The Shimizu's Visit

My Aunt and Uncle came to Orlando on vacation and made the trek down to Fort Lauderdale to visit with us! We took them to the beach yesterday and had a BLAST! Some of them had NEVER been to the beach before...CRAZY! My Aunt Natalie even spent quite a bit of time in the ocean!!! Here are some fun pics...

It's a...BOY!

We just found out...Taija is going to have a little brother!!! We couldn't be more excited to add to our little family. Not sure how excited Taija will be about no longer being the center of attention, but I am sure she will love having someone to share in the mischief! Little Luke William is due at the beginning of November, but since we are going to have another C-section it will most likely be scheduled for the end of October...a Halloween baby!

Sand Party with Daddy

Justin's first official day off we headed to the beach! Taija had a blast playing in the sand with her Daddy - Justin dug a BIG hole and Taija LOVED it!

Playing at the Park

Reiko and Ari's first night in Florida I had young women's and so Reiko took the girls on a walk around our neighborhood and played at the basketball court...here are some cute pics

Ari's Visit

This past week my sister and her little one, Ari, came to visit us! We loved having them! Seriously Taija says Ari's name about 50 times a day! It is hilarious! It was fun to see them together because before Taija wouldn't give Ari the time of day, but since Ari is more active now they did pretty well playing together! Here are some pics of the Children's Museum

Birthday Parties and MORE

So these past two weekends we have had birthday parties to attend...first was Micah's 2nd birthday at MyGym. A cute little gym built for toddlers. Taija had a blast - she would sometimes participate with the group, but for the most part just did her own thing.


Next was Jocey's 5th birthday party. It was at Tropical Splash waterpark...Taija LOVED it. We swam and played for about 2 hours and finally had to tell Taija it was time to leave.




I had to add this last pic in here...we go swimming with our friends the Bateman's about once a week. This week was perfect swimming weather - the kids decided to warm-up for a bit and all laid down on their towels to catch some sun. Super cute!

Easter Pics

So...since I was gone Easter weekend and I totally forgot to take pics of Taija in her Easter dress the Sunday before I decided to dress her up and take some pics. Enjoy!

Catching UP!

The past few weeks have been CRAZY! All starting with Justin's Spring Break...that first Monday I went to Girl's Camp with the Young Women so Justin was in charge of Taija...this is what I came home to



That Thursday I flew to Atlanta for the Big South volleyball tournament - it was a ton of fun. My sister that lives in Virginia met me there and we worked A LOT! Luckily Justin's mom Tina was coming in to town for a business trip that week and she flew in early to Fort Lauderdale. This is the shirt I brought back from the tournament.



Tina came back on Wednesday evening after the last of her meetings and spent the rest of the week with us. She spoiled ALL of us. I tried to take a picture of Taija with BOTH shopping carts at Sam's Club, but this is all i got.



Tina's last afternoon here we went to the beach and I took some cute pics


Taija was so silly at the beach she laid down next to me for about 5 minutes (for here that is LONG) which is so unusual. Later that night I think we figured it out as she threw up several times and ran a fever for the next few days. Poor Justin had her ALL day Saturday and most the day Sunday as I was officiating yet another tournament, but he was a trooper. Taija is just starting to feel better...yay!

Taija did have an Easter dress, but I forgot to take pics of her in it so those will have to be taken another day! Hopefully the next few weeks are not quite so busy...as my house kind of took a beating and needs a LOT of cleaning!

Random Taija's

Here are some random pics of Taija from the last few days...she is just so darn cute!

This is Taija with her rainboots on...she loves to play with them, putting them on and off and with her outfit of the day I couldn't resist taking a pic

Taija at her buddy Jonnie's birthday party...no worries I dressed her like this and it was 80 degrees outside...mother of the year award for me!

This morning Taija wanted a 'nani' (banana) and me giving her a peice just wouldn't suffice...she wanted to do it herself! So, of course I made her do her little monkey sound to go along - 'ooh, ooh, ooh'

Taija's new game is to run away, a blast let me tell you! Especially when loading up into the car. This time Daddy went and caught her...good thing she isn't afraid of heights!

Date Night & Golfing

Last night Justin and I were able to go out on a date...thanks to some great people! Thank you to Josh and Christina for the OG gift card - that is of course where we went! Also, thanks to the Batemans for watching Taija - she had a blast as always! After dinner we went to the golf course where Mike is working and since it was so late we had the driving range to ourselves! It was fabulous...the kids LOVED running up and down and all around! Thanks for the wonderful evening!

Back to the Beach

I am sure some of you are sick of hearing about our wonderful trips to the beach as you sit reading about them in freezing cold temperatures, but since it's been more than a month between our last beach trip we couldn't resist. Justin had the afternoon off so we went to the beach! It was packed...we forgot that it is Spring Break season! Luckily the Fort Lauderdale beach has a nice section that is more family friendly, the college partiers were further north...enjoy the pics!

Daddy's WICKED awesome idea to FLOAT the wagon...stay tuned as there is a video of this! Daddy and Taija out on the sand bar Mommy and Taija watching the waves!

A Latte Fun

Yesterday Taija and I met up with some friends from our ward at a place called A Latte Fun - we had a blast! It is a place for kids to go run, climb, jump, play dress-up, and all around just have FUN! Enjoy the pics!

Funny story about this little motorcycle...there were 2 at this place, but 2 little boys were kind of hogging them they would get off to play with another toy, but as soon as someone else came over they would run back to get on!

There were 7-8 strollers with baby dolls - Taija was in heaven!

Taija loves the trampoline - even when bigger kids would be jumping she would just roll around loving it!

This was the big block-pit - there was a slide that comes down into it, but I could only get her to go down once or twice...sorry no pics of that!

Toddler Time at the Library

Taija's friend Ella invited us to join her at Toddler time at the library near her house...Taija had so much FUN! Thanks Ella!

Taija's BIG girl booster

Taija got a new booster chair for eating - she loves being a part of the table group!

Happy Birthday Pa!

Today is Justin's Dad's birthday! We can't be at his BIG party so here is Taija singing Happy Birthday to him (well...it's actually me singing and Taija making a few comments)!

Mommy's Little Helper

Anytime I go into the kitchen Taija thinks she needs to help me!  Wich would be fine except then I can't get anything done!  So...the other day I thought I would just take some pics of her helping!  Enjoy!

Great Grandma Smith

While we were in Utah we also went to visit my Grandma Smith

We tried to get both of them together with Grandma - didn't work too well!

Taija loved Grandma's cat

Grandma's silly dog - Scamper

Cousin Get-Together

So...at the end of January my Grandma Y passed away - thus the short trip to Utah.  While we were there Taija and I got to spend some wonderful time with my Mom's entire family!  It was great - a few of my cousins don't live closeby anymore and so it was great to see everybody.  One of the evenings we went to my Auntie Mitzie's house for dinner.  Here are some pics!

Taija sitting in my chair

Peyton was really good at building the block tower - just so Taija could knock it down!

Auntie Mitzie in the kitchen

My cousin Heidi with Taija's cousin Ari

WORST Flight EVER

I just thought I would share with you all (more so vent) about my wonderful flight to Utah this past Thurday!  On our flight from Fort Lauderdale to Pheonix (4 1/2 hours) Taija wasn't having the best of days...she was being whiney and didn't want to take a nap.  We had the entire row to ourselves which was nice so I thought I would try and get her to nap.  Yeah not such a great idea.  Well after about 5 minutes of trying I gave up and was now switching to getting her a bottle.  This lady from a few rows behind us came up and asked if I needed any help...after I told her no we were doing okay she preceded to tell me how the entire plane would appreciate it if I would keep my child quiet and pointed out a few things I could do - such as hold her because she was cold.  Okay stupid lady I was in the middle of making a bottle!!!  Not only that Taija was super HOT after I wrapped her up in her blanket trying to get her to sleep!  Such a helpful lady...needless to say I cried for the next hour as Taija just sat there (quietly) watching me.  I LOVE when people try to be helpful as if I just LOVE hearing my child cry in the airplane.  Not to mention this was only 2 hours into our flight!  Really now WHO does that?!