Merry and Bright :)

This little girl fills my world with light and love :). Taylor Addison Layman- you are the best thing that has ever happened to me!

2011 Reflection

Happy Holidays!

I hope you are all enjoying the holiday season so far. This has been a busy year for us and life doesn’t seem to be slowing down any time soon! We are incredibly blessed and thankful for another happy year together.

Taylor has grown SO much over the last year and we fall deeper in love with her every day. It makes us wonder what we did with ourselves before she came into our life! This year has brought so many changes for her. She started walking in February and never looked back. She became a water baby at the end of May. We spent almost every day this Summer in a pool. She LOVES to swim and splash! We had so much fun together. She had her second set of ear tubes put in and adenoids taken out on July 22. Since then, she hasn’t had any ear infections and, more recently, her speech has exploded! She loves to talk, read, and sing. And, when the Fresh Beat Band is on, she is a dancing machine! She is so adventurous. She loves to be outside and is not afraid of much. She is a girly girl and loves purses, tutus, bows, hats, jewelry, painted nails… we have so much fun together! God gave us a happy little girl with a smile and laugh that fills our heart with pure love!

Winston is still working two full time jobs. He stays busy with work and sports. He plays on a flag football team and a basketball team in his little bit of spare time. We’re hoping that he can cut back and only work one job very soon. He’s a family man and doesn’t like being away from his two girls as much as he is. But, we embarked on the Dave Ramsey journey this year and he doesn’t want to quit until we’ve reached our goal.

This year brought some major changes for me at work. After teaching Pre-K for 7 years I decided it was time for a change. In August I started my journey as a 2^nd grade teacher. It definitely took some getting used to but I think I’ve finally adjusted and I’m loving my decision. Second graders are such a sweet age group to teach. I’ve noticed too that I have a lot more energy left over at the end of the day for the little learner that I have at home. I love teaching but I think it might be time for a change. I’m not sure what I want to be “when I grow up.” I’m praying about it and know that God has good things in store for me.

I’m sure the next year will fly by just as fast as this one has. We are praying that God blesses us with another beautiful child soon and we are hopeful for a successful, blessed, healthy, happy, and eventful 2012! Don’t forget to check our blog from time to time to stay up to date with our most recent happenings. www.winstonandbrandi.blogspot.com

                                                                          Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

                                                                               Winston, Brandi, and Taylor Layman

Family Pictures

We decided that we would have some family pictures taken at the same time that we took Taylor to have her 2 year pictures taken. Winston does not like being photographed and only agreed to this photo shoot because he wants Taylor to have family pictures to look back at one day. We all got ready and headed up to the JCPenny portrait studio. We chose JCPenney because I bought a groupon for $40 and it gave us $240 worth of pictures. Our appointment was at 4:20 and we sat there until after 5:00. By that time Taylor had had enough and Winston was getting grumpy. Finally, it was our turn! Taylor ran in the picture room jumping and smiling. I thought, "this is gonna be great." Then, the photographer talked to her. She was done. She wanted to leave. She would not sit anywhere she was asked to. She wouldn't smile. She wouldn't stay still long enough to pose. Somehow though, the photographer managed to get a handful of really good pictures. The quality of these portraits on the blog are not that great since I took a picture of a picture with my phone. I wanted to post the pictures tonight (because I'm pretty proud of my family, even if we are not that photogenic!) 

Diva!

Last night, Winston, Taylor, and I went to dinner with some friends who have a little girl the same age as Taylor. We enjoy getting together with these friends because our life stage is so similar and we always have good conversations. Anywho... as we were getting ready to leave our house Taylor HAD to put her tutu on. Actually, she HAD to put both of her tutu's on! And her mittens. And her boots!

This little girl cracks me up! She wears her rain boots almost everyday and loves to put hats on, carry purses, wear bracelets and necklaces and sunglasses She is also VERY interested in Momma's make-up. She most definitely has to be involved when I'm getting ready for work in the mornings.. As I looked thru the pictures on my phone I realized that I have quite the little diva on my hands who happens to have pretty eccentric taste!

As I picked her up from daycare today and she ran to me with her rain boots and two different bows in her hair I thought, hmmm, maybe I encourage it... I just don't see the point in having a power struggle over a pair of shoes or a tutu. There are bigger things to worry about in this world and if my (almost) two year old doesn't match but she's happy, I'm happy! I love this little Diva!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Last week I school I gave my second graders a writing prompt. I truly enjoyed reading their responses to this prompt. To my surprise more than half of my second graders listed God as one of the things that they were thankful for Several of them listed it first in their list. Praise the Lord! God is alive and living in the hearts of these little angles!

We traveled to Lamesa for Thanksgiving. Lots of good food, football, and family. Happy Thanksgiving!

BYOP!!!

We hosted a BYOP party at our house today... Bring Your Own PUMPKIN!!! We are lucky to have so many kids in our neighborhood around the same age as Taylor. We invited our awesome neighbors and some of our good friends to come over and join in the fun of carving and decorating pumpkins. We lucked out with the weather, it was a beautiful, sunny, 70 degree, October day. In addition to the regular pumpkin carving tools we also had corn syrup paint (corn syrup and food coloring), and decorations for the kids to decorate with. We had a great turnout and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves! The kids loved the snacks of course and us adults enjoyed the company of each other.

Kevin and Kendra brought their precious twin girls, Avery and Addison. They are the cutest, blue-eyed family. So lucky to have these folks as neighbors!

Jose and Charnese brought their sweet boy, Jaden, over to join in the fun. Jaden enjoyed carving the pumpkin and painting it. He was very proud of his finished product!

My neices, Kymbra and Kylar, joined in the fun today as well. Can you believe that neither one of them had never carved a pumpkin?! I couldn't either! Well, I'm happy to report that they have now had the experience! They both tooking carving their pumpkin seriously. They did a pretty darn good job, too!

Our neighbors Derek and Sarah brought their handsome baby boy, Cannon, down to join in the fun. Cannon is one of the most fun, most full of life, kids I've ever met! He had a blast today running all over the place and taking it all in. What a beautiful little family they have!

Taylor and Cannon enjoyed some yummy cookies. So cute!

 Our good friend Paula brought her three kids, Haley, Lily, and Ian over but my hands must have been too busy, I didn't get any pictures of them or their sweet momma! Leah and her mom, Amanda, were here for a while. Taylor and Leah worked on a pumpkin together. Taylor loves to paint! She loved painting with the corn syrup. By the time she was finished, she was COVERED in a sticky mess. Thankfully for me, it was Daddy's bath night!! :)

Today was a great day! Below is a picture of the finished products, minus a few. BYOP may have to be a yearly thing around here. Happy Halloween yall!

Good moments!

Yesterday was not one of my favorite days. But, instead of focusing on all things bad I decided to count my blessings and be thankful for the good things and the good moments. I'm so thankful that I have this little beauty to remind me just how lucky I am! I love her!