Merry Christmas

The Christmas break has been WONDERFUL and restful!! Taylor is sleeping so good these days, and Dustin and I are LOVING that. She had a great time at Christmas, opening every one's gifts. She's learned a few more tricks, too. She's started saying, "up, please" when she wants up on the couch or chair. I'm pretty impressed that she's putting two words together. Of course, as far as I'm concerned, this makes her a genius! :-) She's also started saying her name, which you've just got to hear. It sounds like "Tay-la". Any picture you point to and ask her who it is, she says Tay-la! Love it!

Also, the other day, I was doing dishes with rubber gloves on. When I took them off, Taylor grabbed them and wanted me to put them on her. She wore those silly things for like 45 minutes. We start 'em early around here...

Here are some pictures of Taylor playing in her crib a few weeks ago. The light coming in her room was just beautiful. And this was after like 3 or 4 straight days of fog...so the light was wonderful!

Playing peek-a-boo
We went to see Santa at Southland before school let out. Let's just say, we didn't waste the gas going to Santa Land this year...



Here are a few pics from the annual Settle/Wall/Caldwell/Winchester Christmas party. Darn-it, we didn't win the "leg lamp". Maybe next year...

Taylor and Riley

Update

Life in the country has kept me busy! :-) We still don't have Internet at the house, so it's hard to update regularly. But truth be told, it really has been busy in the Wall household! Dustin is full swing in basketball season, now. I am realizing that it was SO much easier last year, when Taylor wasn't mobile and would sleep through most of the games. This year, she thinks she owns the basketball court and tries to run out on it every 10 seconds. I have started keeping her entertained with Dum Dum's. Nothing wrong with bribing your child with sugar to be still, right?! Is three Dum Dum's in one basketball game too many?! Whew, the life of a mom with a 1 year old!!

Dustin's first season as head coach is going really well. I am LOVING all the basketball!! I love to yell at the games, watch film with him, and have the basketball girls over for supper. It's so neat being so close to the school! I have gone down and played with them a couple of times during practice. They kick my butt, but it's fun anyway! After going up and down the court a few times, I sound like a 65-year old smoker! Can you say OUT OF SHAPE?!

Dustin and I also just celebrated our 5th year anniversary. WOW! I can't believe it's been 5 years, already!! It's been such an amazing journey. I am so blessed by him!

Taylor is hilarious these days! She's getting so fast on her feet...we may have a runner in the next couple of months. She continues to talk like crazy and learns new words every day! Her new favorite thing is to sing "The Itsy Bitsy Spider." She's getting pretty good at it! The last couple of months, she's been really clingy and will hardly go to anyone. This makes things very difficult! But in the last week or so, she's really started to get comfortable around other people. I am ready for her to go to people, especially at basketball games! (I say that now, but in a few years, I know she won't even want to sit with me anymore). I have to keep reminding myself that each stage she goes through has it's goods and bads. And this too shall pass!

In other BIG news, Dustin's dad has been approved for brain surgery. He has lived with epilepsy for at least the last 25 years, that they know of. He's had lots of testing done recently, and he has qualified for the surgery. So, in January, he will go to Dallas and have a portion of his brain removed. PLEASE, PLEASE pray for him!! This is an awesome opportunity, but scary at the same time! This could completely change his life and we are so excited for him!

I will leave you with some pictures of the little one. It wouldn't be a post without pictures!!

in her vest from Aunt Staci over Thanksgiving holidays

I think she really looks like her cousin, Britten in this one

Hanging out in the rocking chair

We went to check out some of the Weaver's cotton crop over Thanksgiving break. Taylor wanted to eat it!

Silly Faces

Taylor has started making the funniest faces lately. The other day, my sister Staci and I were sitting at the table with her while she was eating a snack. She was "showing off" for us, so of course, I had to get out the camera. What a ham!!

Happy Belated Halloween

Taylor was a little leapord for Halloween. I think she is the cutest little leopard...I'm not partial, though. HA! She had lots of fun trick-or-treating! She saw a sucker at her Pop Pop's house and stuck it in her mouth with the paper on. I tried to take it away, but she wasn't having it. I didn't want her to cry and smear her face paint, so I let her keep it. (I think my friend April posted once about "Being a better mom before you have kids." It's so true!) She eventually sucked through the paper, so Taylor had her first Tootsie Roll Pop on Halloween!

She's Walking!!!

Taylor's been taking steps occasionally for about 6 weeks now. On Sunday, she really started walking a lot more. By Monday, I think I only saw her only crawl twice that day! Now, she walks EVERYWHERE! I took these pictures of her yesterday. I LOVE this outfit that my uncle, aunt and cousins gave her. Thanks Brad, Kari, Tin and Kelc!

In other news, we are officially "in" the new house. I really LOVE it! We see Dustin a lot more, save on gas, and sleep really good at night b/c it's so quiet! I don't know if I'll ever be able to live back in town again!! We walk to the playground at the school almost every day and the kids love it! Taylor and I go down to the gym some at the end of Dustin's practices and she loves to play on the court!

We had the basketball girls over Monday night to eat supper. Taylor wasn't too sure what to think, but I had lots of fun! They kicked off their season last night with a win over Jayton! Basketball season is now in full swing! Come see us sometime at our new place!

Go Eagles

Taylor wore her cheerleading outfit to the Pep Rally last Friday! She LOVED being there!!! She wanted out on the court with the cheerleaders SO bad! The Eagles beat Whitharrel last Friday night to win district! They haven't won district since 1997, I believe. It's been that long since they even made the play-offs. The will play their play-off game the day after Thanksgiving. Way to go Eagles!!

Happy Fall

I love fall! It's definitely my favorite time of year. One of our blog topics that I've missed is to list your 10 favorite things about fall. Here goes...

1) The coolness and crispness in the air

2) Halloween

3) The leaves changing color

4) Football!!!

5) Thanksgiving

6) Pumpkin bread, pumpkin pie, pumpkin muffins, etc.

7) Sunsets...for some reason, they seem prettier in the fall

8) Jean Jackets

9) Tall boots

10) Smell of spices cooking

We took Taylor to Cumberland Presbyterian the other evening for some cute fall pictures with pumpkins. She loved it! She called the pumpkins balls. When we put her in her carseat she cried "More Balls." She was not ready to go.

Taylor had lots of fun playing in the dirt in our front yard the other night! She climbed right in the barrel and dug her toes in the dirt! She had a good bath after we got inside!

Taylor Turns "1" and Some Fun News

We celebrated Taylor's b-day with a birthday party last Saturday. There were 40+ people at our house! And as many presents as people. Taylor is so loved and she hasn't got a clue! We had lunch and birthday cake and ice cream. I stayed up until 2:30 am making her cake, but it turned out great! Taylor opened about 2 presents, then was done. So, I got to enjoy opening them like it was my birthday! WooHoo!! She hit the jackpot! She got lots of neat toys, cute clothes and cute shoes!

I cannot believe that my sweet baby is "1"!! I remeber bringing her home this time last year, like it was yesterday! She has drastically changed our lives, and I feel so blessed! She has started walking, when she feels like it, and it makes her look so much older. She is repeating anything we tell her to, which is so cool! I can also tell her to go get things, like her cup, paci, ball or car and she knows what to get! I love it! We are also only giving her formula at night, and will stop that once we are through with this can. She is eating all table food and no more baby food! She is such a big girl!

For the fun news...no we are NOT pregnant. But we are moving to Southland! The School Board offered us a house, with all expenses paid, for practically nothing. We can't pass it up! It will save TONS on gas and bills! And it will allow for lots more family time. I am thrilled! The hardest part of it is that I will be losing a couple of kids. I will still be keeping the kids whose parents teach at Southland, but I will miss Thatcher and Hunter, though! I'm going to be living in the country, practically, which will be weird! We are going to try and rent our house, so if you know of anyone looking, send them our way! God is constantly providing for us and answering our prayers. We never cease to be amazed at how He takes care of us!

The lack of posts is because our modem crashed! We are expecting a new one, soon. More posts and pics to come!