Magdalyn 7 months

Magdalyn is 7 months old today. That means she is now closer to turning one than to being a new baby. It also made me realize Kalianna is now closer to 3 than to 2. My beautiful little girls are getting so big! Maggie has become quite mobile. She isn't crawling yet, she hasn't even tried to get up on her knees, but she is scooting, rolling, and wiggling until she gets to her desired destination. We've had to stop putting her in her bouncy chair, as she started to try and climb out of it. She continues to love her saucer though, because she can stand and play the whole time. She is such a funny little goof and always makes us laugh! She has been squealing a lot lately, and tries to talk a lot. I think she may turn out to be just as vocal has her big sister.

Maggie seems to be a very sweet and tender-hearted little girl. I think she is going to be very sensitive. She doesn't like loud noises and gets very upset when anyone is angry. Not with her, but in general. If Kalianna is throwing a tantrum, she cries. Or if Kalianna gets sent to her room for timeout, she cries too. She much prefers everyone to always be happy around her! If people start laughing, especially Kalianna, she will giggle right along. Magdalyn doesn't like loud noises, but she does love to be surprised. Peek-a-boo is one of her favorite games. She loves to pull things over her face and then giggles when we pull it off. Maggie has recently discovered her tongue and she often sticks it out and plays with it, making some pretty awesome faces!

Magdalyn is getting pretty good at sitting up, but she still doesn't seem to like doing it. She can sit up fine on her own, but she will always roll over onto her back or stomach within a couple minutes. Her favorite thing is standing though. Most of the time our arms get tired before her legs do! She doesn't show any interest in moving her legs forward and walking yet though. She just likes to stand. Maggie also loves food! She will eat just about anything I give her to taste. She is loving baby food! Applesauce is one of her favorite foods right now and the only thing she seems to really not like is green beans. It's always fun seeing how Magdalyn differs from her sister at this same age. They have a lot of the same tendencies, but Magdalyn is definitely her own little person.  

This is such a Maggie face, I had to add it.

Here she is sitting up on her own.

Helping Grandpa

Staying at my parent's house last weekend, Kalianna was thrilled to help Grandpa with the leaves. Seriously, this girl LOVES to help anyone with anything! She is such a sweetie! Then Grandpa showed her how to jump in and throw the leaves. She had a ball and we got some great pictures!

Six Month Pictures

We couldn't afford to pay for someone to do Maggie's six month pictures, so Matt did them this time. He borrowed my parent's nice camera and I think he got some pretty cute shots! Grant it, the subject is super cute! Here are some of our favorites:

Happy Halloween!

Talk about kodak moments. So glad I caught this! I just love Halloween! It has always been one of my favorite holidays. If I had lots of money, or any sort of sewing skills at all, I would dress up every year. I did dress up every year until Kalianna was born. Then any funds and creativity went into creating her costume. And now with Magdalyn too, I spend my time dressing up the two of them instead. I'm totally okay with it though. They look far cuter than I would! Thursday started out our Halloween festivities with trick-or-treating at Matt's work. Kalianna was super excited to wear her pretty Tinkerbell dress and she was very excited that her little sister was a fairy too. She wanted Mommy to put on a fairy costume too. Maybe next time. She also loved that I put a little bit of sparkly makeup on her eyes and cheeks and she got to wear some lip gloss. She was thrilled to get to wear Mommy's makeup! I love that Kalianna really understood Halloween this year and she was really excited about it. Last year she was excited about the candy, but this year she loved everything about Halloween! And I loved watching her get excited.

This morning I made some jack-o-lantern pancakes for breakfast. We put in orange food coloring and I was out of chocolate chips so we opened a couple bags of M&Ms from her treat bowl to make their faces. Kalianna thought they were the coolest thing ever, and she ate every bite. We had a lot of fun making them together. I did the same thing last year, but this year Kalianna was far more excited because she actually knew what a jack-o-lantern was.

Then in the afternoon, while Magdalyn was napping, we carved her pumpkin. I was afraid she would be totally grossed out by the pumpkin guts, but not my girl! She thought it was pretty cool to pull out all the goo and throw it away. I love my brave girl! Then I asked her if she wanted a happy pumpkin or a scary pumpkin. She immediately replied with "Scary!" then she growled. So I googled Jack Skelington and improvised from a picture online. I think he turned out pretty cute! I mean scary. Kalianna was super excited about carving her pumpkin. She loved every minute of it!

Tonight was my ward's annual trunk-or-treat. We've never actually made it before, but this year we were going to be home. And this year Kalianna was actually excited to go. So I got both girls in their costumes and braved it on my own. We had a ball! But my arm was completely dead after holding Maggie for 2 hours! Kalianna loved seeing all the kids in their costumes, and saying trick-or-treat, and of course getting candy. Magdalyn did fantastic! She was happy as could be while we walked around and visited all the cars. This was a super fun Halloween! I love that Kalianna is starting to really get holidays and I look forward to Magdalyn joining in next year.

Time

This is something I felt like I never had enough of. As I'm sure many of you can relate to. With Matt doing both school and work to take care of our family, we rarely see him. He usually gets home in time to see his girls for maybe an hour a day. Then once they are in bed, he disappears to the basement for homework. He works super hard so that I can stay home with our girls, which I am super grateful for! That being said, most of the other responsibilities fall to me. I take care of the girls from the time they get up around 8:00am until they are both asleep at 9:30pm. I got rid of Kalianna's naptime (she rarely slept anyway) and now she sleeps better at night and no longer has accidents. Between her no longer napping and Matt's work schedule, I have no time to myself until after 10:00pm. It gets exhausting sometimes! On top of taking care of the girls, I take care of all the household chores and any shopping and other errands that need to be done. I also try and write whenever I can. Trying to keep up with everything by myself was really wearing me out! Then I had the opportunity to watch General Conference.

The General Relief Society meeting had a big impact on me. I loved President Uchtdorf's talk! His 5 forget-me-nots really made me stop and think. I was trying to do way too much and this left me feeling stressed instead of happy. I needed to be more patient with myself and realize I didn't have to be super woman. I didn't need to be doing so much. Some of the ways I was spending my time weren't as important as I thought they were. I needed to prioritize. President Uchtdorf got me thinking and then when Elder Andersen spoke in the Saturday afternoon session, he reiterated everything I needed to hear. My absolute favorite part was when he said, "Motherhood is not a hobby, it is a calling. You do not collect children because you find them cuter than stamps . It is not something to do if you can squeeze the time in. It is what God gave you time for." That last line really hit home for me. Motherhood is what God gave you time for.

Now I don't want you to think that I was neglecting my kids in any way. But I was trying to be a mother and a writer at the same time. After conference I decided as much as I love writing, and as much as I want to work on my next book, and especially as much as my fans want me to finish my next book, it is nowhere near as important as my two beautiful little girls. I have always put my girls before my writing physically, but sometimes I wasn't with them mentally. Waiting for my next opportunity to sit at my desk, or working through a scene in my mind while playing with them. I am definitely not going to stop writing, but I realized I have my whole life to write. My daughter's lives, on the other hand, are zooming by and how much would I regret it if I missed even a second? So I stopped getting on my computer during the day. I took away that distraction and put 100% of my focus back where it needed to be. And you know what? A huge weight was lifted from my shoulders. The stress of trying to be everything was gone. And instead I can just be the one thing that is most important: A mom. I will continue to write when I find the time, but I don't need to be a successful author right now. The characters in my books will wait. Kalianna and Magdalyn won't. The characters won't age while I am away. My daughters will.

Interview with author Dana Taylor

I'm very excited this week to introduce you to Dana Taylor. Dana writes uplifting stories filled with inspiration and humor. Born and raised in California, she graduated from the University of Redlands. She has been published in various magazines, including the Ladies Home Journal. She hosted the Internet radio program Definitely Dana! at HealthyLife.net. and won various contests with the Romance Writers of America, including Best First Book from the Desert Quill Awards. Her published works include ROYAL REBEL, AIN’T LOVE GRAND?, HOPE FOR THE HOLIDAYS, and DEVIL MOON: A MYSTIC ROMANCE. Her non-fiction book is EVER-FLOWING STREAMS OF HEALING ENERGY. Visit her blogsite Supernal Living with Dana Taylor at http://definitelydana.wordpress.com/. She is a founding member of the on-line community SupernalFriends.com and can be reached at SupernalFriends@yahoo.com

Patty’s Angels from HOPE FOR THE HOLIDAYS

Prologue Snippet:

Description: Los Angeles, 1960. California is a state of growing contrasts. The suburbs and downtown are only minutes, yet worlds, apart. One little girl changes lives and brings people together, with the help of her celestial best friends.

Setting: A dingy apartment building

The set-up: A down-on-her-luck actress, Geri, encounters a little girl and her mother passing out Christmas bags in the hallway.

The little girl turned and smiled. Geri grabbed the doorjamb to keep from falling at the sight. The child’s blond hair fluffed around her small head like a halo. Her pinafore dress reminded Geri of the dolls in toy store windows. Light seemed to shine from the small body, like Barbara Stanwyck’s sparkly dress in Ball of Fire.

The girl waved, repeating, “Mewwy Chwistmas!”

The mother stood up, turned around and smiled also. Geri shook her head at the sight of this Lee Remick wannabe, dressed in a full skirt, wearing gloves, toting Christmas bags and towing the angelic daughter beside her. What was she thinking coming to a stink hole like this? What a do-gooding idiot. Geri looked down at the tempting bag at her feet. Well, she wasn’t one to turn down free food. She pounced on it.

The woman took a tentative step toward her. “Hello, I’m…”

Geri clutched the bag to her bosom and slammed the door.

She leaned against the dingy wood, reached into the bag, and sank her teeth into the perfect mini loaf of gingerbread. Mmm. Lee sure could bake.

Who were these people? Geri picked up the envelope and opened the holiday card.

Merry Christmas from All Saint’s United Brethren Church. Crayon stars and a childishly scribbled name—Patty--embellished the inside.

Her name was Patty.

1. Tell us 3 fun facts about yourself?

“Fun” facts?? Like I have 11 toes or something?

a. Frank Sinatra’s album “Songs for Swinging Lovers” was my favorite record when I was 3 years old. I played it obsessively. It is still my favorite.

b. I was voted “Most Likely to Suceed” in high school. I am still trying to get there.

c. My only athletic ability is a fair game of ping-pong.

2. How long have you been a writer or known that was something you wanted to do?

I sold my first magazine article to The Ladies Home Journal in 1979. (You do the math!)

3. Tell me about your current project?

HOPE FOR THE HOLIDAYS features three inspirational, heartwarming short stories. I thought in this dismal economy, people might like some hope for the holidays.

4. Where do you receive your inspiration or ideas for your books?

I think ideas are floating out in some ethereal plane. It’s like going on a mental treasure hunt. Stories often start out as dreams.

5. Why did you choose to self-publish? Or go with the publisher you are with?

I was published by Echelon Press in 2004 with “Ain’t Love Grand?.” I sold a few thousand copies and got some good reviews. Ultimately, I saw that small presses couldn’t get into the brick-and-mortar stores. So I waited, feeling I could find my place in ebook publishing. It’s an astonishing opportunity. My books sell somewhere in the world daily. Amazing!

6. How often do you write?

Sadly, not often enough. It’s all about marketing right now. This summer I divided my time between morning marketing and afternoon writing. I spun out “Patty’s Angels” for the holiday book. I loved it. I hope to dive into a new book in January.

7. Tell us about some of your future projects?

My adventures with my Supernal Friends (see SupernalFriends.com) will undoubtedly influence my future works. I am witnessing some amazing women with gifts of healing. I believe I will be the person to tell their stories.

8. What are some of your favorite books?

“Tattoos on the Heart” by Father Gregory Boyle is my favorite book. He beautifully chronicles what’s important in life after spending three decades working in the barrios of LA. I like books with a mystical touch—“Peace Like A River” by Leif Enger. I also enjoy the whimsical books of Sarah Addison Allen.

9. If you could co-write a book with another author, who would it be?

That’s a hard question! Living or dead? It would be fun to work with Shirley McClain and meet all the fascinating people she knows.

10. Do you have any advice for others who dream of being an author?

Have at least 8 editorial runs and don’t rush to publish.