Sportin' Our Wolfpack Wear

Our sweet friends Chris and Laura Atkins invited us to go to the State/Carolina basketball game a few weeks ago.  Joshua finally got to wear his NC State sweatsuit we bought him last year when he was just a wee little babe in my belly!  He looked so darn cute!  Sadly, NCSU didn't win, but it was a great game and we had a great time!  Thanks so much Laura and Chris!!!  It was so good to hang out with y'all!

Their baby girl, Lilly, is just the cutest thing!  Joshua must have thought so, too, considering he put his arm around her while posing for a picture!

Our little man is so handsome!  We love him!

Burnin' Up

On Monday night of last week I noticed Joshua felt really hot, so we took his temperature and it was 101.4.  We gave him a little Motrin before bed and didn't think too much about the fever since he had a cold.  At 10:30 that night he woke screaming and would not settle down.  His temperature at that point was up to 102.8.  By Tuesday morning it was up to 103.6 and Tuesday evening it was up to 105.4, even with giving him Motrin every 6 hours.  He was lethargic, trembling, and looked miserable.  Being that the ground was covered in snow the Raleigh area basically shut down, including our pediatrician's office.  We called the nurse line and were told to bring him in to the ER so that someone could check him out.  I was pretty much freaking out at that point.  Joshua has really never had a fever in his short little life.  Hours later and after lots of poking and prodding they decided it was a viral infection and sent us home giving him Tylenol and Motrin.  The fever finally started subsiding Thursday afternoon, but he still was not acting like his normal happy self, so my mom came up on Friday to keep him so that I could go back to work.  All of this on top of Pop Pop leaving us and having his funeral and stuff, last week was a tough week in the Taylor household.  We are fully recovered now, and life is back to normal.  We are so thankful that our little boy is okay and nothing was seriously wrong with him.  BUT can I just repeat.....105.4, that was crazy!

Side note.....the snow was beautiful at our house!!  We did dress Joshua warmly and take him outside for a short photoshoot.  The pictures were cute, but he was miserable.  We just couldn't let his first snow get by us without documenting it!

Pop Pop

On Monday of last week Derek's grandfather, Pop Pop, passed away.  He was such a smart and sweet man who is going to be missed very much.  Fortunately, Joshua was able to meet and spend some time with him during the last six months.  If you would, please keep Mema in your prayers.  They were married for 65 years!  I hope that Derek and I are able to live a life together just like them.

Six Month Stats

Joshua did great at the doctor today. He was all smiles and giggles for the nurse and doctor. The doctor thinks he looks great and is meeting all of his milestones! He let out a brief scream when each of the FOUR shots were stuck in his poor legs but then returned to his normal self....except maybe a little less active. Here are his stats at 6 months:

Weight: 17 lb 1 oz (50th percentile)

Height: 27 3/4 in (80th percentile)

Head Circumference: 17 1/8 in (40 - 50th percentile)

He's still as cute as ever!

Happy Half Birthday!!

Joshua is 6 months old today!!  I can't believe he's already that old!  Everyone warns you about how fast they grow up, but I never expected it to fly by the way it has.  He has changed so much since he was born.  We are still absolutely crazy about him!  Here are some things he is doing at 6 months...

-He is the most smiley baby I have ever seen!

-can sit up really well on his own (He started doing the tripod thing right after Thanksgiving.)

-can bear a lot of weight on his legs for at least a minute at a time

-loves playing in his exersaucer

-laughs now without a lot of work from us

-can grab his toes and stick them in his mouth.

-talks and screams/squeals a lot  He is quite loud!

-can roll both ways

-reaches out and grabs stuff with one hand or both hands (It depends on what he's trying to get.)

-sticks everything in his mouth

-is eating rice cereal and sweet potatoes  He LOVES sweet potatoes! (He's been eating rice cereal for a month, but we just started sweet potatoes this weekend.  He will soon be eating other fruits and vegetables.)

-constantly chews on his hands

-drools all the time

-no teeth yet (but we keep looking for one to pop through b/c of the hand chewing & drooling)

-goes to bed at 7:30 and gets up around 7:00 (most days)....although he still won't sleep through the night.  We are working on his sleeping, and it is getting a little better.

-sleeps on his side or stomach (we put him down on his back and he is never that way when we go in to get him)

-loves his paci and can put it back in his mouth by himself

-He is the sweetest baby in the world!!  

I'm sure there are more I'm forgetting, so I'll probably update this list later.  He really is a great baby, and we are so very thankful for him!

Happy Half Birthday Sweet Baby Boy!  We love you! 

Welcome to the World Palmer Elijah Wyke

Our good friends Holly and Ben Wyke welcomed their new baby boy to the world early Monday morning!!  They are at home now and seem to be doing well.  We can't wait to meet Palmer next weekend!!  Congratulations guys!!

Trip to see Jo

Joshua and I set out on Sunday for Richmond and a visit with Johanna, Danny, K-lu and Ralphie!  Although we were only there for about 26 hours, we had a great time.  The car ride seemed really long, but Joshua did great.  I stopped once on the way there and on the way back to feed him and change his diaper.  He slept most of the ride.  I hate that Johanna and Danny live in Texas and I don't get to see her much, but it's nice that her family lives close enough that we could visit there.  Maybe sometime in the next year Joshua and I (and Derek if he wants to go) can take an adventure on a plane and go visit them in Texas.  Until then we'll have to continue our Skype dates.  Thanks for being so good to us in Richmond guys!  We can't wait for our next visit!

Christmas Adventures

December was another busy month for us.  We went out without Joshua several times (I know you're shocked!).  At the beginning of the month Derek took me out to a special dinner and presented me with a letter he had written to me about us and his love for me.  I cried right there at the restaurant.  It was a refreshing time for our relationship, and we had a great time!  We also went to several Christmas parties.  Some friends of our's were generous enough to give up their time to keep Joshua while we were out.  Thanks guys, we are much appreciative!

Christmas was a fun and busy time for us.  It was great to get to celebrate with our families and see some friends!  We were able to make it to all SEVEN Christmas gatherings, spanning from Christmas Eve to the day after Christmas.  We woke up and had our own Christmas at our house on Christmas Eve and then headed to Albemarle to start the family celebrations.  We were able to see so much family.  There were still a few members of our family that hadn't met Joshua that got to.  My cousin, Brandon, who lives in Texas was so sweet seeing Joshua for the first time.  It was really great to see him.  It's hard when you are so busy with gatherings to really focus on what Christmas is truly about, but tried our best to keep Christ as our focus.  Also, Christmas with a child definitely gives you a different perspective on what's really important.  All in all we had a wonderful Christmas and were blessed with lots of great gifts from our families.  I think Joshua is set with toys for a long long time.  The only bad part about Christmas for us was that Derek got very sick the day after Christmas with a stomach bug.  He is feeling much better now, and we are so thankful for that!

Joshua and I got to visit with Holly and Ashley for a little bit the day after Christmas.  Holly was due to have her baby boy on Christmas day but was still very pregnant the day after.  It was so great to see those girls!

We hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas (sorry we are so late)!

Thanksgiving 2008

We had a BUSY Thanksgiving!  There was still so much of our family that hadn't met Joshua, that we ended up going to all four family get-togethers.  It started out early Thursday morning.  We left our house in Holly Springs and headed to Charlotte to celebrate with my dad's family.  My uncle Linn couldn't wait to meet Joshua, and it was so sweet seeing them together for the first time.  We got to eat a yummy lunch at Myers Park Country Club in Chalotte with them.  My cousin Scott's little boy, Wyatt, was so cute and helpful with Joshua.  We only get to see that side of the family a few times a year, so we really enjoyed spending time with them.  We left Charlotte and headed to Albemarle to see Derek's mom's family.  Derek's cousin's children, J. and Ali were so cute with Joshua.  Ali is four, and she kept saying how handsome Joshua was and how much he liked her.  They took turns holding him, and passed him back and forth 5 or 6 times.  After Albemarle we headed to Concord to visit with some of my mom's family.  Granny (my grandmother) just can't get enough of our little man.  She always says that it is impossible to look at him and not smile.  (I have to agree!)  From Concord we went to Belmont to celebrate with Derek's dad's family and eat dinner with them.  We don't get to see that family very much, so it was definitely a good time.

It was a great day!....an exhausting day, but a good one!  We totaled up our time in the car on Thanksgiving, and it added up to about six and a half hours.  Joshua was wonderful all day.  He went with the flow all day long, took naps in the car, and was still smiling at the end of the day!

We took it easy the rest of the weekend, spending time with some friends we don't see very often.  On Sunday morning we went to Charlotte to spend some time with our friends Brooke and Jeremy.  Then on Sunday afternoon we went to Concord to see Ashley, Brandon, and the rest of the Cohens!  It was so great to see everyone!

This year we are so thankful for so many things, especially for our family and friends!  We are thankful that God has blessed us with a healthy and sweet baby boy!  We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Joshua's First Beach Trip

The weekend before Thanksgiving we went down to Litchfield Beach in SC.  A friend of our's has a condo there and offered it to us for the weekend!  The weather was beautiful, but it was COLD!  YaYa was able to come stay for a night and play with Joshua.  She babysat while Derek and I went on a date!  Thanks mom!!!  It was a great weekend!