And the Dr. Says ...

Taya's hips are officially, officially NORMAL!! Yay!!! She's free!!!! (And diaper changes, nursing, and holding our little babe are officially easier! No more harness!! Taya wore this harness for the first three months - okay well, we may have cheated a little bit near the end.)
A lot of you know that after Taya was born, the doctors thought she might have a problem with her hip called Hip Dysplasia. Well after several check-ups with the Orthopedic Surgeon and several ultrasounds/X-rays done on her hips, the Dr. officially proclaimed Taya's hips as NORMAL yesterday at her last check-up! Things had been looking pretty good from her ultrasounds/x-rays recently, but it was just nice to hear the Dr. say that she is officially in the clear. Hip Dysplasia is basically when the ball of the hip does not stay in place - in socket because the socket itself is too shallow (if that makes any sense).
Now Taya has better things to do like pull on her toes and roll over!!
And we are certainly grateful for that!

More Random Things ...

Color. That's right. I'm grateful for color. I'm trying to choose these subjects at random, can you tell? I like to choose subjects that will make you think - oh yeah, I don't think of that too often.
Aren't you glad that this world has color? It adds beauty and interest to literally everything!!! I love color in scenery. I love natural greens, blues, beiges, reds ... not to mention the thousands of colors splashed about in flowers and landscape around the world. The colors found in various foods are even fascinating (okay, am I sounding dorky enough here?). And if you didn't guess - I love color because of what it does for interiors! We can describe ourselves through our homes (as well as our clothes, our cars, our make-up, the exterior of our homes) with color, and we can create a certain 'feel' that we're longing for. I love the calming and subtle effect that our family room, living room and hallway have on us with their gray greens. What if God had created an all gray or all white or all black world? I think life would actually be significantly different. So thank goodness we have color!
Anyhow, that's my random thankful note for the moment. After all, who says we shouldn't be grateful after Thanksgiving?

Another thing to be grateful for...

Health & Mobility. I just don't think I could ever be grateful enough for health and mobility. I remember one of my dance teachers at BYU talking about how grateful we should be for our bodies and our use of them. Her message really impressed me at that time. What if you could not dance, swim, hike, play tennis, ... even use your hands for arts & projects ..... whatever it is that you enjoy doing, let alone simply living day to day? I don't feel like I can express how strongly I feel about this - I am SO thankful to be healthy. We never know when our good health or mobility is going to be taken away from us. So this is one thing I want to express my gratitude for this Thanksgiving.

(Now maybe I can just show it more by exercising more regularly!)

One random thing I'm thankful for...

Water. Isn't it one of those simple things we take for granted? You know those times when you're so thirsty that gulping down that glass of water feels like you've practically had your life saved? I was drinking a glass of water the other night and just thought - Man, I love water, isn't it amazing? It's almost like a magical liquid that God gives us - it's clear, beautiful in mass amounts, very good for us, and it hardly tastes so it's not like anyone could dislike it. I should post a cool picture of water and start posting things I'm thankful for during this Thankful month. (Yes these were my thoughts - it was very late at night).

Well, I couldn't post a picture of water because they're all copyrighted, but look at this website if you feel like looking at great art based around photographs of water. http://www.liquidsculpture.com/fine_art/index.htm

Okay, can you tell I'm desparate for post ideas?

And this is why I'm teased ...

Just so you know, Jana loves me most.


Sidenote: If some of us 'tease the ones we love the most', then I am loved most by a lot of people!! Especially my siblings and some of my college friends! And definitely my husband.

Not that I'm flattering myself or anything.

Belated Halloween Pics!

Taya didn't swing from a branch very well when we tried it, so we finally just put her on the ground - the little monkey!
I've never seen a monkey lounge quite like this, have you?
Who knew Octopus's and Monkeys could be friends? .... This is Taya's good little friend, Lydia or Lydi as we call her (Melanie's daughter) - they are 10 months apart - can you believe how much they grow?!