It's About Time!

One reason for my hiatus from blogging is that our computer is in storage while we are building our house and I've been using my in-laws' computer, which I'm still trying to figure out. Anyway, I'm FINALLY posting a picture of Reagan. My friend Kelly took so many cute pictures of both Reagan and Brooklyn. I'd like to say that Reagan was cooperative, but you know how babies are. Brooklyn felt like a little princess, posing for all the pictures. Reagan is at a fun stage--smiling, laughing, and squealing. And Brooklyn is loving the role of big sister, always eager to hold her sister and make her laugh.

Welcome Summer!

Finally...I'm getting caught up on our blog after a long break! We are excited for summer to be here and are busy with t-ball, swimming lessons, going places, and playing hard. Here are some pictures from this past month.

Brooklyn is obsessed with animals. She had fun petting the goats at the Tautphaus Park Zoo, where we went for Logan's field trip.



Kids vs. Cats at Hogle Zoo. I think the kids are winning! We went with Grandma and Grandpa Stott, and the aunts and uncles while we were in Salt Lake a few weeks ago.













Congratulations Logan! He says good-bye to Mrs. Gale at his kindergarten graduation. It's hard to believe he's done with kindergarten and onto 1st grade soon!













Caden graduated from preschool, too. It has been fun watching him learn so many things this past year. Mrs. McKellar was a great teacher. He will have one more year of preschool before he starts kindergarten.

Happy Birthday and Happy New Year!

We went out to lunch with two of my good friends and their families in Salt Lake on New Year's Day. This is becoming an annual event. We took a picture of all our kids in this same spot at Joe's Crab Shack last year. It's amazing to see how they've grown up in one year!














Brooklyn turned 2 on Saturday! What a big girl! We celebrated in Salt Lake with the Stott side of the family on her birthday and tonight with the Taggart family. She is definitely spoiled!











































We love our princess. She cracks us up with her independent spirit and the funny things she says and does. She's such a joy to have in our home.

Merry Christmas!

We wanted to share some of the highlights of 2008 in the Taggart home with you...

Logan (5) started kindergarten and is amazing us by how quickly he learns. He loves playing with and picking on Caden and Brooklyn. He played on a t-ball and a soccer team this year, and is currently playing basketball. He also enjoys swimming and doing flips off of the diving board. He cried the other day because it was cold outside and asked when it would be summer again. He is a great big brother, always willing to help out. He and Caden love playing wrestle mania with Brandon when he comes home from work each day.

Caden (4) is enjoying preschool. He catches on quickly and has a big vocabulary. He is the comedian in our home, always quick to laugh and make us laugh. We try to compliment him by saying he is handsome or smart and he says, "No, I'm funny!" That is the ultimate compliment in his mind. He still loves his blankie and chocolate milk, and is always wearing shorts and a t-shirt. He taught himself how to ride a bike during the summer so he can keep up with Logan. He's had stitches twice this year, so we hope 2009 treats him better!

Brooklyn (almost 2) is little Miss Independent. She loves to dress herself. Sometimes I try to help her when her shirt is stuck on her head or is inside-out and she says, "No, I do it!" I've learned to step back and let her express herself in her own way. She's quite the talker. She tells us exactly what she wants and gets a lot of satisfaction in being understood. She loves babies and dolls and playing in the kitchen. She gets into everything! Once, I sent the kids downstairs so I could mop the floor, only to come downstairs and find Brooklyn on the carpet, with navy blue paint all over herself and the carpet! After days of cleaning, we miraculously got the carpet back to normal. Talk about a counterproductive day!

Christmas is so much fun with these little guys in our home. They have an enthusiasm for life that is contagious. This has been a challenging year for us with the real estate market being slower than usual. It's been a good learning experience in many ways, as our faith and our abilities have been put to the test. Through it all, we've been reminded that as long as we have our family and the gospel of Jesus Christ, we have everything we need and we can truly be happy.

We are grateful for wonderful family and friends. We appreciate your love and support. We hope you have a wonderful holiday season and wish you the best in 2009!

Little Mommy

Brooklyn is OBSESSED with babies! It's funny what an innate attraction she has to them compared to our two boys. Here she is holding our friends' baby, who is almost bigger than she is. Anytime she sees a baby she runs up and tries to hug, kiss, pet, soothe, and hold him/her. She's helpful, but almost too helpful. She was on the baby lookout yesterday at church. As soon as she spotted a baby she would yell, "Hi Baby! Hi!" over and over again. She knows their names and when we pass by their houses she tells us where they live. Obsessed! She is a good little mommy in training.

Better Late than Never

I'm a little behind the times in getting these pictures posted. These guys absolutely loved Halloween this year...the candy, costumes, parties, everything!We borrowed this pink poodle costume from Brooklyn's cousin. I'm glad we didn't buy a costume because Brooklyn wore it for maybe a total of 5 minutes. She only wanted to trick-or-treat in her t-shirt and flip flops. Crazy girl!

Our cool clone trooper really got into the holiday. I got to help out with a party in Logan's classroom, and here he is in a parade through the school. It was all about the candy for him.

Our poor middle child...I realized when we got home from trick-or-treating and the kids had changed that I never got a picture of Caden in his costume. I begged him to put it back on for a picture, and this is as good as it gets. Funny pirate!

She's Growing Up!

Brooklyn went to her first friend birthday party today. The boys and I stayed so she wasn't on her own. All the kids swam and played in the dirt/mud. Anything messy and they have a blast! They even had cupcakes. Good thing we were outside! The boys weren't sure about eating on the princess plates. Logan said, "Do you think they have any boy plates?"

Brooklyn is so brave when it comes to water that she just climbed head first into the water and got stuck on the edge of the pool with her head under water for a few seconds, giving me a scare! We got her up and she seemed unphased by the whole thing. Later as we were eating cupcakes I could tell that she was tired. She kept nodding off, then waking up to take another bite of cupcake. Finally, the sleep won out and she was there on my lap with pink frosting all over her face and hands. It would have made a great picture! All that fun wore her out.

Fun at the Park

There is a park at the ball field which kept Brooklyn entertained. She thinks she's so big, riding the horse. If you look close enough you can see a very tiny attempt at a ponytail. It's slowly getting there!