Hello Baby Girl!

Sloane Ryan was in a little bit of a rush, it seems! She was due May 25th but we had a feeling after meeting with her birth mom last week that she might be a little ahead of schedule - and she was! We got a call at 5:15 on Saturday morning May 15th (5/15!) that S's water had broken and she was at the hospital. We had packed our bags and planned the fire drill, thinking that we could make it to Roosevelt in 3 hours. Even though we made great time (2 hours 45 minutes! no speeding, promise), Sloane made better time. She was born at 7:38 so we missed the actual birth by about 15-20 minutes. We got to hear some of her first cries over the phone which was really awesome.

We did arrive at the hospital in time to give her her first bottle. It was such an amazing experience to have S. place Sloane in my arms and call me her mommy. It's impossible to describe that feeling. It's happened to me twice now and all I know is that it brings tears to my eyes every time I think of it. I don't have a picture of it, but I know I'll never need one because it's a permanent fixture in my mind's eye.

Sloane was 6 lbs 15 oz, 20 inches long, and perfect in every way. She has a little ring of dark hair with blondish peach fuzz on top, long slender fingers and feet, and a pouty lower lip. She's very alert yet peaceful when she's awake, which isn't often!

From the first moment we met Sierra and her mom back in February, we felt a connection with them. It just felt like this was meant to be and it's been that way all along - in the "almost too good to be true" way! Happily, that feeling was reinforced over the course of the weekend. We felt like we were with family (in the good way!) and we were so impressed with everyone's support and love and how easy everything was. We shared all kinds of stories and laughed and passed Sloane around so everyone had a chance to fawn over her. It was pretty amazing! We are really excited to have everyone as part of our extended family. You could really feel the love they have for this baby and we felt embraced as part of their family too. We have a lot to live up to! It reminded us so much of being with Tagg's family, and we hope to have an equally special relationship with them.


The hospital gave us our own room - SO much nicer than our last experience! Not that we didn't like sharing a recliner but having 2 beds was pretty sweet. And even though hospital food is, well, hospital food, they were kind enough to bring us meals while we were there. Tagg had a bit of a cold so he wasn't able to make it up to the hospital which was a bummer - especially because we missed him so much - but we were able to focus and appreciate the quality time we got to have with Sloane and her family.

They got her the most darling going-home outfit! Even though it was a little big, she looked adorable in it. Yellow and bees seems to be a theme for us! They got her a cute little teddy bear which Tagg thought was Sloane when we brought her home! "Sloane Bear." He tries to give it binkies and put blankets on it which is cute. It was really an amazing experience and even though it was certainly hard for everyone, you can see all the love and joy present in everyone's faces.

There are really no words to describe how blessed we are to have had such a wonderful experience with adoption - and then have it again. Like Tagg's birth parents, Sloane's are amazing, intelligent, peaceful, lovely, and mature young people. Their courage has given us the gift of family and there is really no way to say thank you for that. We just have to make them proud and give them the opportunity to fulfill all of their dreams knowing that Sloane and Tagg are loved and cared for.

Easter 2010

In spite of the snowstorms that FINALLY decided to show up on and off over Easter weekend, we had a really great holiday.

We did a Sunday dinner the week before at Grama and Bompa's house and the weather was actually really nice. Ashley brought her Easter bunny (really cute!) but she and Tagg were way more excited about being able to run, run, run in the front yard than they were about the poor rabbit.

We dyed Easter eggs with Nana and Aunt Biff (Tagg's nickname for Tiff) while Daddy watched the Final Four.

Tagg did his best to root the Mounties to victory but ultimately he was no match for Duke.

Since we woke up to about 3 inches of snow on the ground both Saturday and Sunday, we did our Easter egg hunt inside.

Tagg is getting so good at counting - even though the number 4 was conspicuously MIA that day - and with his colors.

He was completely uninterested in the chocolate and the new swimming suit that were in his Easter basket but was happy to help me eat strawberries (good boy!) and of course yogurt and eggs were on the brunch agenda so he was happy!

Tagg had a runny nose all day and by the end of the day Auntie Leese had diagnosed him with conjunctivitis so we got a visit from the Easter bunny in the morning and by that night we were paying a visit to the doctor. And in between we had brunch, painted the living room, cleaned the house, infected the entire family with germs and had Easter dinner. No wonder we're exhausted!

A Day at the Park

Thank goodness it's getting to be Spring. We still have to wear a coat to the park and the grass is still brown but at least the slides aren't covered with snow! Tagg loves the slide. He likes to sit at the top and say "Ready, Set, Gooooo." Of course, he also likes to pick up the wood chips from the playground and throw them on his head. But hey! everyone's idea of fun is a little different!

Home Movies!

Tagg's Christmas Dance.
Yes, it's the Wiggles. What can we say? He loves 'em.

Rockin' Out in My Dud.
Hopefully this is not a career preview!


Talk, Talk, Talk...
Whatever, how many words do YOU know?!


Ready, Set...GOOOOO!!!
(for those of you who don't translate toddler, there at the end, he's asking for his flash "cards". Yeah. It took us a minute too!)

Christmas 2009

The holidays were absolutely fabulous! Busy, crazy, wonderful ... perfect!

We took Tagg to see Santa Claus for the first time. We heard they had the best Santa and that was no lie! Real beard and everything! Tagg was not impressed. It took about 30 seconds for the tears to start flowing!

Some of Tagg's favorite gifts:

- his musical guitar which actually plays some pretty cool songs

- The Wiggles t-shirt that Auntie Leese made





- golf clubs (thanks, dad...hopefully you can teach him that they're for hitting balls not people and soon!)

- the Tickle Monster book (only when daddy reads it)

- my WVU glove, my story book, my blue lounge outfit, and puzzles!

- Cousin Ashley's scooter

- My reindeer ears - oh, wait...that was my favorite gift that we never bought because he promptly threw a fit - and the ears! - in the store after we took this picture.

Tagg was very helpful in decorating the Christmas tree. He's been into stacking cups so while we were decorating the tree, he started sticking cups on the branches and wah-lah! We had a new theme for the tree...red plastic cups as ornaments! It was awesome because he could play with the cups all he wanted. Put any of the little glass balls down at his level and there were glass shards everywhere.

Christmas 2009

The holidays were absolutely fabulous! Busy, crazy, wonderful ... perfect!

We took Tagg to see Santa Claus for the first time. We heard they had the best Santa and that was no lie! Real beard and everything! Tagg was not impressed. It took about 30 seconds for the tears to start flowing!

Some of Tagg's favorite gifts:

- his musical guitar which actually plays some pretty cool songs

- golf clubs (thanks, dad...hopefully you can teach him that they're for hitting balls not people and soon!)

- the Tickle Monster book (only when daddy reads it)

- a canister of Double Bubble (makes you wonder if all the fancy toys are worth it!)












Tagg was very helpful in decorating the Christmas tree. He's been into stacking cups so while we were decorating the tree, he started sticking cups on the branches and wah-lah! We had a new theme for the tree...red plastic cups as ornaments! It was awesome because he could play with the cups all he wanted. Put any of the little glass balls down at his level and there were glass shards everywhere.

Thanks...I got it...

Well, mom and dad kind of missed the Thanksgiving blog with photos so I figured I'd take over this month. So here we go, in no particular order, with my commentary. You know, sometimes if you want things done right, you just have to do them yourself.

These days, I'm experimenting with putting my dish on my head. I like hats but I don't want mom and dad to know, so I rip every hat they put on my head off immediately - don't care how cool it is! - but I feel compelled to put this sticky syrup dish on my head. Go figure! I'm also working on silverware, but wow, this spaghetti stuff is just impossible. Kiss, anyone?

This is me and my friend Nikelle at brunch on a Sunday. Mom and Aunt Tiff just ran 10 miles because they're training for a big race in Vegas, so they kind of smelled. But breakfast was great and I love that Nikelle played hiding games with me and she likes it when I try to kiss her. And crayons are pretty good for breakfast!

My new favorite place to sit, you might ask? The refrigerator, of course. It's cool.

We got to go to the aquarium over Thanksgiving. I just started watching Nemo...luuuuvin it! Where is Dorie's academy award, I ask?! So I'm way into fish now. I loved all the fishes and now have super cool Nemo stuffed animal who sleeps with me at night. I can point out any fish anywhere - goldfish crackers, fish on menus, colorful bugs or birds that I think I can persuade people to agree are "fishes." I think I can convice mom and dad into getting me a fish for Xmas. Workin' it now!

Mom and Dad had a "garage-gating" party for the big U/BYU game. Shut it! When the game isn't at home, you do what you can do! It was a pretty great event, with Washoes (I'm quite good) and oodles of food...right up till the part where we lost! The adults seemed pretty bummed out but I was busy playing some pool ball game with my buddies that came over. I also learned that my family is competitive. Papa and Uncle Marc were playing PS2 and wow...it's serious stuff.

Mommy and Aunt Tiff went to Las Vegas to run the Rock n' Roll half-marathon. There were 30,000 people there, fireworks, Elvises, bands. It sounded cool. I got a Rock Star t-shirt and a bear so I was happy.

In other news...I like to dance.

Alright, people. That's it. Hopefully my parents will be on it enough to take care of the December posts. If not...I'm on it!

Love, Tagg