May 2013

Oh May! The weather gets warmer and watch out here comes summer.  Looks like we had some fun play dates with our new cousin Elliot Hartman, the Crank girls & the Vazquezs! Taylor and I had our first Eegees, which for those who don't know Eegees in the most delicious frozen shaved ice treat known to man.  Thank-you Crank family for introducing this to us! We went to my cousin Tyler's high school graduation in Waddell after spending the day out on my cousins Brad's little farm. (of course my phone died and I didn't get a picture with the graduate! :( ) I'm looking forward to this May already after looking at all these pictures. 

May is Kentucky Derby time. We didn't make it to the Derby, but we always have a fun hat day spending time with my girlfriends. 

We did a little Arizona Tour in May 2013. From Tucson, to Sedona and Jerome to Page we had good times. In Tucson OZ stood up in our good friend Glenn's wedding. On our return to Tempe, we stayed at Wild Horse Pass for OZ's annual NOGAS conference and hang out with the Sarah & Fred Vazquez. 

From there we decided to pitstop at home clean out the suitcases, reload and head to Sedona.  We spent the night with my dad & Marilyn and the next day drove up to Jerome for the historical house tour.  We played in the grass and had lunch.  It was another great day for the books. 

The last weekend in May we opted to go spend some time with the family in Page over Memorial weekend.  We have coffee in the morning at Stix with the town sewing circle (my Uncles and their friends).  Uncle Mike always spoils us with fresh doughnuts for all the kids in the morning.  And their house is always filled with cousins running in and out and up and down the streets. 

And there folks you have yourself a fun month!

For pictures click here.

Slowly, but surly I'm getting caught up. 

Meg.

April 2013

Time flies by in the blink of an eye.  As I'm catching up on last years photos all I can think is how little Taylor Poppy was and how much she's grown.  It's so crazy.  

So last year in April the newly walking Taylor had a quick visit from Grandma Shaw and a visit from Nan & Pop Johnson.  Lucky girl.  She's always been quite the eater.  She loves a long list of crazy foods.  She was still addicted to that pacifier for the most part.  She loved that thing.  While the weather was warming up here in Arizona enough for us to go swimming and some lovely strolls, it was still pretty chilly up in Oregon.  We took a trip up there to see the Papa Shaw & Grandma & Grandpa.  We got in a few hands of pinochle with Grandma & Grandpa, mostly consists of Grandpa playing with baby Taylor.  It was a great trip.  We hung out at OZ's dad's (Papa Shaw), they went golfing, we went for a beautiful drive up in the hills.  We went to Pendleton to watch our niece play a softball game. Then back to Boise and watched our cousin play a baseball game.  Taylor really enjoyed both.  She does like watching sports.  She was working on her walking skills, waddling all around.  It was a nice visit, but we had to head home and as usual Taylor falls asleep right about the time the plane is landing. 

For pictures from April click here.

Onward & Upward, 

Meg. 

March 2013

Livin' on a plane! 

March was a busy month. We went to Tahoe and Portland twice. We started March off in Tahoe visiting the Marrs. We were waiting for Taylor to take her first steps, enjoying some cooler weather and just relaxing.  I remember being in the exact same spot waiting for Gunnison to take his first steps.  We left without any walking.  Next up was a quick night into Portland for Lawrence's 40th birthday bbq. Seriously always a good laugh with these peeps. Love them for life! THEN… it finally happened, in the Portland airport, at 16 months…. She took her first steps.  In an airport no less.  Home away from home for us.  It was pretty exciting and we even caught it on video.  

Taylor went to her first ball game while we were home for a few days.  One of the perks of living in Arizona is Spring Training games in beautiful weather.  

Then we were back off to Portland for a week of fun with cousins.  We went to the Portland Zoo, bowling with cousins and to the coast.  Taylor's first time at the beach.  So much fun with these cute kids. 

There were so many fun visits in March; Grandmas and Grandpas, cousins and friends, we saw the Schroms in town from Fort Collins, and Nabers in from Malaysia!

Slowly but surely… I'm getting there! For all these great pictures from March 2013 click here..

BAZINGA!!

February 2013

Looks like we were still waiting for this girl to get some hair! She hasn't got much more in the last year.   Well here we were at 2013 Super Bowl party the Newkirks. The Bears weren't in the Super Bowl but we never miss an opportunity to show our team spirit.  

A big month for Taylor Poppy: (Let's face it without her, there would be no Shaw blog!)

She stood up by herself for the 1st time. 

Got her passport (weird that her baby picture will be on there until she's 5!)
Started potty training! Whoo Hoo!

It's kind of fun to look back as I write this seeing Taylor before she could walk pushing boxes around pretty much everyone's house.

We took a trip up to Page to see the family.  As we drove home to Tempe we stopped to snap a couple of pictures at one of our favorite view points that over looks the north end of the Grand Canyon called 'The Cut'.  Little did we know it would be our last time on that road.  Just 12 hours later it collapsed.  Oh and we tried out for the Family Feud! We didn't make it, but it was fun trying out! Even if we were last up. lol!

Onward to catching up… Click Here for a few photos from February … 2013.

January in the Shaw household ~

On the 1st of January we celebrated Christmas at my mom's.  We had one of our family favorites pasta primavera! My sister was home from college for the holidays. It was great to have her home. 

We celebrated OZ's birthday with the usual suspects doing our favorite thing, eating and playing games with family and friends.  OZ received a very cool set of bags for his birthday from Dad & Marilyn! Then off to camp & hunt with family just north of Tucson.  Who doesn't love camping with a a baby?!?  We went to visit Grandma & Grandpa Shaw which luckily always includes a visit with the Logsdon & Shaw cousins! And a party it was as usual! Good food, games of pool and a fire pit with roasted marshmallows.  We visited with Grandma & Grandpa and got in some pinochle playing. Taylor got some new toy boxes, which mama put together and she loves them.  And thank-you Aunt Steph for our bright new sweaters! We love them!

Pictures from Jan 2013 click here. 

Starting to get caught up… only a year behind.  Is this what happens when life gets busy with babies?! :)

Well here we go...

I feel like the 1st year of Taylor Poppy's life was a new 1st year of life for OZ and I.  It's a whole new beginning.  ... And I love it! It's a whole new list of challenges and trial & errors.  It's been exciting, fun, crazy and rewarding!  At moments I think I can't believe we're doing this, we're really doing this!

I'm playing a bit of catch up here.  It's been 8 months already! Unreal how it flys by.  November and December were busy. Taylor turned 1! We had all 8 grandparents in town for the celebration... and celebration it was with 50-60 people piled in to our condo it was a packed house.  We had Thanksgiving at our friend Jonathan's, then the annual Train Park Thanksgiving on the Saturday after.  It was Taylor Poppy's first train ride. Went camping/ hunting... which really consist of the ladies staying at camp playing games with the kids by the campfire, and making a big lunch/dinner, while the men folk spend the morning and late afternoon out hunting.  We had one long night where Taylor was up all night and we couldn't get her to sleep.  Finally about 5 am we just said oh well I guess we're up for the day too.  And would you know it... There was a new tooth in Taylor's mouth! Her 1st tooth! All was worth it when cousin Timmy landed a nice big elk! Since it was the last day of their vacation / hunt and everyone else left it was a ton of work for OZ and Timmy to do alone, but they made it through.  While they were working on the elk and driving across the state, Taylor Poppy & I were home meeting up with my cousin Jenny, hubby Matt & baby Bea! We were so anxiously awaiting our little ones meeting! It was short visit and poor Bea ended up sick, but I loved seeing them together!  So we're looking forward to the next time we are all together again.

At 13 months she was becoming more independent.  She likes to brush her own teeth and feed herself. Taylor is pretty good at sign language. She can tell me when she wants milk, eat, more, all done, fan or book.  I like the little extra communication.  She understands open and close and likes to follow directions.

Christmas:  Whoo HOO! Taylor's 2nd Christmas was sweet.  We had a little family Christmas here in Tempe, then off to Portland for a week of Shaw family fun.  We made the rounds and saw just about everyone while we were there.  Loved every minute!! Then back to home sweet home for a simple New Years Eve.

I'll get caught up eventually.... In the meantime click here for some pictures from November/ December.

Click here to view in slide show format, it may work better.  Let me know your thoughts.

Meg.