the taaffe update

Since it's been almost a month since our last blog. Thought I better give everyone an update!

We're surviving! That's a good thing right? Both kids are growing very quickly! Paul just had his 6 month check up last week and weighed 16-1/2 pounds and was 27 inches long. So he's getting bigger! Amelia at her 2 year check up was 26# even and 34-1/2 inches long. Paul is getting into everything now. He's half crawling/half scooting everywhere. It won't be long and he'll be full fledge crawling. He can sit himself up now. Before we had to sit him up, but he can do it himself now and thinks he's such a big boy! He's getting into Amelia's stuff and loves every minute of it, while we hear a lot of "NO, NO BABY! MINE!" coming from Amelia's mouth! Good thing she is currently napping, as he's been getting into her toys since he got up from his nap. He already enjoys torturing her baby dolls. He was trying to tip over her little pack n play that she has for her dolls. And she sat there and laughed. Amazingly she didn't scream at him while he was doing it!

Our vacation to the North Shore was absolutely BEAUTIFUL! We couldn't have asked for a better time or better weather. The kids had a blast. We spent lots of time hiking and also swimming. The weather was in the 70's the whole time! Like always, the time went by quickly.


I had a good Mother's Day. Hard to believe I was celebrating my 3rd Mother's Day already. Crazy how fast the time goes! My mom, Tim and my Grandma all came down for the weekend. And then yesterday we had brunch at our house for Mother's Day and Mary and Ron joined us. It was a very nice weekend!

Hope everyone is well.

thank you...

Thank you to all who attended Amelia's birthday party last night! We truly appreciate each and everyone of you that were here to help her celebrate her 2nd birthday! I can hardly believe she's two already...where does the time go? I think the birthday girl had a great time and enjoyed entertaining all of you in her tutu! Thanks for all of your wonderful gifts. We're so thankful for all of you who have chosen to be a part of her life and are glad you could be here to help all of us celebrate Amelia's life! She's such a vibrant little girl, I can't imagine my life without her! She has brought so much joy into our lives the last two years it's just amazing!

Thanks again! Hopefully I can get some pics posted in the next few days. Also if anyone has pics they'd like to share from the bday party we'd appreciate it, we didn't get very many on our camera!

In Honor of Amelia's 2nd Birthday

I just got this today and thought I'd share it with everyone since it's been two years since I've been a mom!

Before I was a Mom...

I never tripped over toys or forgot words to a lullaby.

I didn't worry whether or not my plants were poisonous.

I never thought about immunizations.
Before I was a Mom - I had never been puked on. Pooped on. Chewed on. Peed on.

I had complete control of my mind and my thoughts.

I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom

I never held down a screaming child so doctors could do tests. Or give shots.

I never looked into teary eyes and cried.

I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin. I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn't want to put them down.

I never felt my heart break into a million pieces when I couldn't stop the hurt.

I never knew that something so small could affect my life so much.

I never knew that I could love someone so much.

I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a Mom. I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body.

I didn't know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby.

I didn't know that bond between a mother and her child.

I didn't know that something so small could make me feel so important and happy.

Before I was a Mom. I had never gotten up in the middle of the night every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay.

I had never known the warmth, the joy, the love, the heartache, the wonderment or the satisfaction of being a Mom.

I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much, before I was a Mom.

What a great day...

Today was a lot of fun. We had a day out for work. The day started out with all of us from work renewing our CPR cards, okay so that wasn't that exciting, but it was something that had to be done. Today we got out Christmas presents from our Doctors at work. Our Doctors took us to Cooks of Crocus Hill on Grand Avenue in St. Paul, to take a cooking class. We took a bus from Northfield Bus Lines to St. Paul. The Drs bought us Panera sandwiches for lunch, so we ate those on the bus, they also had beer, margaritas, mike's hard lemonades, water, juice, iced tea for us to drink on the bus. The bus ride was a lot of fun, everyone started drinking on the bus and kicked back and relaxed. We played a trivia game on the ride to St. Paul, the first round everyone got a cookbook of some sort, you picked it out as you got the questions right. All the questions were on cooking. When we got to Cooks of Crocus Hill, we started out at the bar in the place where we were going to be cooking our meal...I'm starting to sense that maybe some of my co-workers have drinking problems...well no, not really, they are a fun loving bunch who like to have a good time...sometimes a little rowdy...but I don't think alcohol plays much of a roll in that! They had already prepared an appetizer for us, figs wrapped with smoked mozzarella and prosciutto, sounds gross, but they were great! Then we split into five teams...by doing the old fashioned 1,2,3,4,5,1,2,3,4,5 okay well you get the picture. We were on a team building mission. My team was another assistant who just Graduated from school in December and was hired while I was on Maternity Leave, and two of the three Drs were also on our team. We were "team building with taste", we were making Salsas and Margaritas.

My group cooked Chili Rellenos with Salsa Mexicana...they were horrible...in my opinion anyway, it was Pablano peppers stuffed with chopped mushrooms, mixed with shallots, breadcrumbs, queso blanco cheese with a sauce that had goat cheese in it. Number one I don't like mushrooms and number two, the sauce was horrible...but it could be the smell of it while it was cooking, it was dry white wine mixed with shallots, garlic, tumeric (a horribly stinky spice) and heavy cream. I cooked the sauce and I got voted Best Chef on the bus ride home...they must have felt bad for me, because all the groups were done cooking and I was still working on this sauce.

Other things we had were Guacamole and chips, Crab cakes with tomatillo sauce, skirt steak fajitas, Giant Prawns with Pineapple salsa. I could have only had the guac and been happy as a fat kid with cake. But I tried them all and I'll tell you I only cared for the fajitas and the guacamole. However the whole experience was a lot of fun! When we were all done cooking, we got to sit down and enjoy what we slaved away making!

On the ride home we voted for the Best Chef Award and the Not So Good Chef Award. I won Best Chef and I'm sure like I stated previously that it was because they all felt bad for me! I got a coffee mug that says "Employee of the Month", I was informed that it could become the traveling trophy if I would like...you just never know what may end up in the white elephant gifts for the Christmas party in December. We played two more rounds of trivia on the ride home, winning more fabulous prizes. The "Silver Round" I won a 7 pc Margarita Set. Other prizes included in this round included Pyrex portables set, a party set which included wine glasses and plates that you could set your wine glass in and walk around with it, some stoneware baking dishes, and mixing bowls. Then we played the Gold Round, which the prizes were even bigger, they included the waffle iron s that most hotels have these days for their continental breakfasts, a large electronic crockpot, a electric fry pan with a removable insert, a griddle with removable racks that could go into the dishwasher and 2 quart ice cream maker. I chose the Ice Cream maker, Amelia and I may try it out tomorrow! Everyone earned a prize each round, what you got just depended upon where you fell in the order and whether you answered the question correctly or not. There was 2-3 of each prize.


Just had to share my fun and exciting day!

it's been a while...

Hello All! Since it's been a while, since my last blog, I thought I'd better write quick in between house chores!

Amelia is turning 2 next week...who can believe it? Certainly not me. Seems to me like she should still be a baby! She got new Tennis Shoes yesterday, they make her look like she's about 6 years old! Here's the new shoes...Are they not cute or what? Stride Rite had a sale buy one pair get the 2nd 50% off. So she got summer sandals as well!

Mr. Paul is growing like a weed. At his 4 month check up last week he was 15 lbs 5 oz and 25-3/4 inches long. He's getting to be such a big man! He is starting to scoot backwards on his tummy. And he can sit unassited for a minute or two! That's about all for now. I better go work on laundry! Mr Paul is awake from his nap and Meli is still snoozing!

snow storm weekend

This weekend we spent up at my Grandparents house in Henning. My Grandma planned a family gathering (since November) with her mom, her siblings and her nieces and nephews. She did this last year and those who came had a great time. Well due to the fact of the "biggest snow storm in years" that we had over the weekend, no one came. It was kind of a disappointment, however we still had a great time our own family! My Great Grandma called right away yesterday morning stating that she wasn't coming because they got 5 inches of snow in Fergus Falls and really, who can blame a 80+ year old women for not wanting to drive in the snow?! Amelia had a GREAT time and really enjoyed herself! We went sledding and she got her first snowmobile ride! She wasn't real sure what to think of that!
Here is a picture of her at the end of her ride!

We spent about 2 hours outside, playing in the snow. Ron took us over to the farm to go sledding, Amelia really liked that. All of us who went sledding (Kevin, me, Amelia, Amber, Courtney, Britta, Papa, My dad, Terri and Ron) all had a great time. I think us "adults" had a better time than the kiddos! We were competing to see who could go the farthest on the snow tubes! I had the record and then Ron beat me on the last run! Oh well...better luck next year, right?!
Here is Miss Amelia sledding:

It was nice to get away for a weekend! I have to say, my grandma is one of the BEST hostesses I know! She always has everything so well planned and always makes it comfortable for us to stay there! They are so accommodating for us and it's great! We get our own bedroom, our own bathroom and they have a crib set up in "Our Room" so we only have to bring one pack and play, which is WONDERFUL! And soon Amelia will be big enough she can sleep on her Ready Bed (sleeping bag attached to a kids sized air mattress), and we won't have to even bring a pack and play! Like always...our weekend revolved around food! Yesterday morning we had scrambled eggs, bacon, toast and bran muffins. Then we had shredded turkey sandwiches, cheesey potatoes (Terri makes the best potatoes!) veggies, veggie pizza, chips. And for dinner we had Granny's homemade spaghetti with salad and garlic bread. This morning (pre-brunch) we had fruit and butter braid. And then for Brunch we had homemade buttermilk pancakes (Granny and Papa's specialty!) ham and eggs. As you can tell...we never go hungry! Courtney, Britta, Kevin and I played a challenging game of Sorry! this morning...I won! I don't remember the last time I won playing Sorry!. It was a lot of fun!
Amber brought the kids' Christmas gifts for them this weekend (we haven't seen her since Paul's Baptism), they got lots of great things! Amelia got some really cute boots (they kind of resemble UGG boots.) As soon as she saw them, she wanted them on and then she headed for the four season porch and wanted to go outside. So her Papa let her out for a few minutes onto the deck...doesn't she look cute with these boots on?!

All in all it was a great weekend! Our drive home was good. The roads were cleaned off well and we made it to the cities in 3 hours (which is pretty normal!) The kids did great on the way home. Paul must have been beat from the weekend from everyone playing with him and passing him around, as he slept the WHOLE way home! Amelia watched the movie Cars for a little while and slept for a short time. We brought Cindy home with us, so my dad could stay and work with Papa for a few days, she helped in entertaining Amelia on the way home, reading books and such. The biggest surprise was when we got home...our drive way had been cleaned out! WooHoo! Kevin thought he was going to spend a long time having to clean it out. Low and behold, Jeff (Amelia's Godfather) had come over and cleaned it out for us while we were gone. He brought the bobcat by and cleaned it out. Kevin just had to use the snow blower by the mailboxes, the sidewalk and right by the garage. It was so nice to not have to worry about that when we got home! Part of Dad and Cindy's drive way was cleaned out for them as well, one of their neighbors must have done it for them. So we all had nice surprises when we got home!
I better head to bed! I have a long day ahead of me, doing laundry and such!
Here are the kiddos, snuggling together in the chair, Amelia covered both of them up!

this and that...

I don't have a particular subject for my blog this week, so it'll be a little of everything, hence this and that! It's been another fun and exciting week at our house! Amelia is showing interest in potty training again and has pooped on it several times in the last week. She has even been carrying it into the living room...not where we really want it! But hey, at least she's showing interest! It's never a dull moment around here with Amelia!

Yesterday, I got a dose of what it it is like to have a daycare...well kind of. I watched Logan for Matt and Kelly for a few hours yesterday. Their daycare was closed yesterday for her "Paid Holiday", since when do daycare providers get paid holidays?! And Matt is on the night shift and got home at 7 am yesterday, so Kel asked if I'd mind watching him for a while, so Matt could get some sleep. He was fun to have around and him and Paul played together on the floor for a little while. As much as I enjoyed him, I definitely am not cut out to do daycare! I have a new found respect for daycare providers. It's tough taking care of two kids the same age and a toddler!

The bathroom in the basement is coming along nicely. Still in hopes it'll be done in time for St. Patty's day! Mary and Ron have come down the last two Sundays and Ron has been helping Kevin plumb the bathroom. It's nice to have people who know how to do this kind of handy work! Ron is a boilermaker. We're just putting a toilet and a laundry sink down there. Nothing fancy, it'll be nice to have another bathroom when we have parties and this way people don't have to walk upstairs (I haven't had a problem with this, but Kevin thinks it'll be easier! :) ) Men, Go figure!


Pauly rolled from his back to his tummy tonight. He has rolled from his tummy to his back several times, but tonight was the first time he went from back to tummy! Another exciting milestone for him. It's so fun to see the new things he's doing. He's changed so much, even so in the last week or two! He's so dang cute, of course I can say that because I'm his mommy! But him and Amelia make me smile everyday! The bring so much joy to my life! You really learn to appreciate your parents after becoming one. My parents were 19 when I was born and I have no idea how they managed. Even having my first when I was 22 sometimes seems so young, but I wouldn't change it for the world! Amelia and Paul are two of my Greatest gifts.