2 Blogs in 1 Day. Makin' up for lost time.

This is a picture of Chad's mom as a little girl. The resemblance between her and Courtlyn is quite unbelievable.
Taylor on the giraffe rocker at "The Discovery Centre"

All 3 of them disappeared from the kitchen while I was cooking. I went looking for them & found all of them on the dog bed. Taylor and Stella were snoozing and Courtlyn was snuggled up sipping on some cold milk. HILARIOUS!

Courtlyn enjoyed painting at "The Discovery Centre". Look how serious she is.

Courtlyn and Stella are the best of friends.

Beware: YUCK-O!!!

As most of my close friends and family know, I am trying to move towards vegetarianism. I know, I know....where in the world did that come from? We're talking about the girl whose own mother gets a kick out of her description of food and has always said I should star in food commercials because no one could sell a food product or recipe better than me. I'm still that girl, I'm just trying to make better choices in that arena! I was always floored by vegetarians. I could not understand why anyone would want to eliminate any food from their diet ( except for beets ). BUT, I have begun to do some research and am making some lifestyle changes to improve my health and well being! I'm certainly not trying to push my (work in progress) lifestyle on anyone but I just want the people who matter to me in my life to be educated about what they are ingesting! In case you've been under a rock lately, I need to inform you that the F.D.A. has decided that food from cloned animals and their offspring is safe to eat and they will be offering it in grocery stores in the near future. The NY Times noted that it is likely consumers won't be privvy to what they are eating - cloned meat most likely won't have to be labeled as "cloned" or "genetically manipulated". WHAT!?!?!?!
Again - I'm not preaching anything...I certainly haven't made any extreme moves myself. However, I am definitely researching and eliminating foods from my diet which seem a little shady.
If you're interested in learning more for yourself regarding cloned meat, slaughterhouse practices, organic food products and a vegetarian lifestyle you should check out these information sources :
1.) The book : Skinny B***h. Quite a harsh read...Rated R for vulgarity and graphic content!
2.) The book: Slaughterhouse. Hmmmmm..... prepare yourself for the reality of the meat industry if you choose to read this one!
3.) GoVeg.com - you'll never want your kids to each chicken nuggets again!
4.) Fast Food Nation - Disclaimer : I've never seen this movie myself but it comes highly recommended from my favorite vegetarian friend. I can't wait to see it for myself.

& remember, the bottom line is ...... You Are What You EAT!!! Love Ya'll ! Jamie

We had a wonderful Christmas and Santa was very good to all of us! Chad and I were talking the other day about how lucky we are to have both of our families so close. It's nice to be able to share all the holidays with both sides of our families. It does however make for constant running and rearranging! We spent Christmas Eve day with my family opening gifts and snacking on finger foods - which were yumm-o! Then on Christmas Eve night we went to Nana and Papaw's and had Christmas dinner, which was also yumm-o! We opened gifts there and as usual walked away with the trunk loaded down. Our girls sure weren't hurting for anything after spending 1/2 the day with Gram and Papa, Aunt Carly, Tim and Allie and then the second 1/2 of the day with Pops, Aunt Dee and Hannah, Nana and Papaw, Uncle Eddie, Aunt Susan, Marybeth, Matt & Lauren! Gifts galore. We're still sorting through the goods =).
I had a hard time deciding what pics to include on this post because I took about a million trillion! It was Courtlyn's first Christmas where she knew what to do and that was fun to catch on film. And of course, Taylor is getting so big and pretty, I keep turning the camera on her too! Chad and I had a very big Christmas present to share with the girls this year.....I attached a pic at the bottom so we could share our news with everyone! We are all very excited about our new addition......

Taylor at Nana and Papaw's - High School Musical 2 : I guess the motto with that stuff is "the more the better".

Courtlyn inside her Dora Fiesta Ball Pit she got from her Gram and Papa.

Courtlyn playing with her cousin Xander's new cowboy hat he got for Christmas.

Courtlyn's big present from Mommy and Daddy. A Dora the Explorer Four Wheeler. She didn't require any training - she just jumped on, pushed the button, and took off. We think she's a genius.

Taylor with her BIG GIFT - An American Girl Doll named Julie. They kinda look like twins don't they?

Chad, Courtlyn, Pops, and Aunt Dee

Taylor and Mommy on Christmas Eve
Taylor Abigail

Aunt Dee and Taylor

Posing again......

The Youngs, Christmas Eve 2007

Tim, Carly, Me, Chad, Courtlyn, Allie, Gram, Taylor, and Papa on Christmas Eve

It just took one present and Courtlyn had the unwrapping present thing down to an art

Taylor and I's Gingerbread House

Our newest addition : Stella LouElla Young

What?!?!?!?! You thought we were pregnant? An 8 year old, a 17 month old, a crazy cat and a brand new puppy rounds us out quite nicely. We have decided we are now the "All American Family" minus the picket fence. We're quite content right where we are right now.

We wish you all a Happy New Year! Love ya'll!!!

Everyday Moments......

Well.....I haven't posted in a while and I've gotten a few complaints so I decided to sit down & pull together a few moments to share with you all! We've been soooooooooo busy living our hectic lives these days and I just haven't had time to sit down and share it! I suppose that's just part of the chaos of the holidays!

Taylor was in the church play last week. She did an amazing job and I was so proud of her for remembering all her lines and speaking clearly and slowly. She's getting so big.

Taylor posing with her favorite WebKinz, Pugslee.

Courtlyn is learning to feed herself....it's a hysterical process!

What? Am I doing it wrong? For some reason, I'm still hungry!?!?


I thought we'd do a little "Christmas Jammies Photo Session".
Courtlyn really didn't agree with my plan.

I love them.....my wonderful friends.



&

last but not least.....

BATHTIME!!!!!!!!

Ooooooohhhhhhhheeeeeeee! Sisssy is naked!

Tub Time Cuddlin.......

Tub Time Snugglin.......

And sweet kisses!

Turkey Day

The above picture is a shameless advertisement for my precious friend Courtney and her business...she makes and sells these too cute dresses and many other baby items. Check her out at the link to the left - Maddie Moo's Boutique. She's also on MySpace as my # 8 friend!

Today we had a very busy Thanksgiving! We went to Monterey to hang out at Pa Becks - thats up in the mountains for those of you who don't know and it was 37 degrees! Yuck. It started sleeting right before we left. It's hard to believe it was 70 something degrees yesterday. We had a fantastic feast at my Pa's house. We had more food than we knew what to do with. It was so yummy. We went by and visited with my Dad's side and Courtlyn ran around the house the whole time with my Aunt Tina's broom. She's my little sweeper....have to cash in on that when she's old enough to figure out how to use the dust pan!
Next, we came back home and went to Nana and Papaw's where we ate AGAIN! And it was fantastic too! My sister-in-law made a CARAMEL PIE!!! I ate a piece even when I didn't need to. Then she let me take the rest of it home...and I've already dipped into it once. I love her for letting me have it but it's gonna put 5 pounds on my backside!
We're very lucky to have such wonderful families and fortunate to have them close by so we can see them often.
I feel fortunate to have such an amazing husband who is an extraordinary father to our two precious, beautiful, sweet daughters. Life is crazy and busy and overwhelming all the time. But ... at the end of the day there's nothing better than spending time with my family, putting the kids down for the night and snuggling on the couch with my very best friend. I am so thankful for our relationship, our children, our home, our family, friends and church family. We feel blessed to be where we are right now and look forward to the future!

Taylor and Courtlyn were kissing each other through the door. It was so sweet!

Me and my sweet little neice, Hannah. She says the FUNNIEST things!

Taylor and Hannah

Isn't she sooooooooo pretty!

Me and my favorite cousin, Jennifer.

Courtlyn was playing her new favorite game - "Get ( fill in the blank )'s nose.

Today the lucky contestant in this picture is Gram!

Mommy and her BIG baby. Love her!

She says she loves me too. =)

Good Friends and Good Times

We spent this weekend with our friends! Saturday morning I went to Elizabeth's Surprise Baby Shower for lil' Mason who we CANNOT wait to see and hold! I had a great time seeing some friends I unfortunately don't get to see enough! Elizabeth was VERY surprised and she's one of the cutest pregnant people ever. She pulls off baby carrying very well! We had yummy food and played a hilarious paper bag game. I won't tell you about it just in case you ever get the chance to play it yourself! Saturday afternoon, we went to our little friend Shelby's birthday party! We had Happy Meals, cake and ice cream....YUMMY. I even got a little adventurous and took Courtlyn up in the PlayPlace. Once. Because once almost broke me down. She had a great time however sliding down the slide with Mommy! We're very lucky to have such wonderful friends to play with...young and old. Ha! Ha!

This pic looks a little familiar....I wouldn't know why!