Christmas

Here are a few pictures from the past week. They are not in order, well, they are in reverse chronological order...

Taya with the huge stuffed giraffe her aunt Erin gave her for Christmas. It does not have a name yet...

My daugher and me on her first Christmas.

First Christmas

Taya in her Christmas dress. She was falling over in the recliner. She did really well at Mass.

The Banks' came over last Sunday.

We purchased a family gift for Christmas...a new treadmill. We (Ethan) enlisted the help of Ryan to get it downstairs. Ethan was kind enough to give Ryan the "heavy" end :)

Taya having a conversation with Abner.

Nima needed some shoes to go outside this week. It has been very cold. Bbbrrrr.

Taya crashed in the recliner while Eli was here.

Taya enjoys bright lights and candles.

Tummy time looking at the Very Hungry Catepillar.

We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Christmas at Grammy's

We celebrated Christmas early at Grammy's house. We had a fabulous time and we all made out with a carload of gifts. Taya was especially spoiled by her Grammy and Santa Claus.

Below are some pictures and video of our weekend.


Nima was interested in sitting in Taya's carrier while the "big" kids were opening their presents.

Grandpa Bud was exhausted with all the activities...he had been at grammy's for maybe an hour.

Ooohhhh, is this for me? Inside was Taya's first Cabbage Patch Kid (from Santa, aka Grammy).

The Mann Family 2008. We have been very blessed this year beyond our imaginations.

Taya's first Christmas season

Hi! We have had pictures to post for a few weeks but our office has been way too cold to work in (it's upstairs) so we waited a while. It is still cold, but Ethan is braving it and I'm down in the warm living room. Miss Taya is taking a nap and Nima is cuddling with me :). I'm so lucky!

We traveled to Ogallala for Christmas at my mom's, which we celebrated very early since it worked in everyone's schedule. Taya was still not feeling the best and we spotted the top of a tooth on Saturday evening. Our nights have not been restful, but we hope she will start feeling better soon.

Taya was four months old on Dec. 6. She has been doing so many fun and cute things. She likes to laugh, talk, and smile which I hope you can tell from the video. She likes to scoot around on her back and turns circles and pulls her legs up to her chest and throws them over to the side. She has not actually rolled over yet, but we can tell she is thinking about it. She also puts anything her hand come in contact with in her mouth (or toward her mouth). With her teeth coming in she likes to chomp on her toys, fist, pacifier, and even our fingers. She truly is a sweet little baby, even with the interruptions at night.

Reading a book: "The Polar Express".


Looking like a little angel with her hands folded while she sleeps in daddy's arms.

Looking at her Christmas tree.

With mommy

"Hey mom and dad!! Look at me :)"

(I love this picture!!!!!!)

Tummy time...







Playing with dad-o

Meeting Santa for the first time.

We actually went on a wild-goose chase looking for Santa. This was the third place we tried. She didn't know what to think, but really wanted to play with his beard. She didn't cry though.

Video of Taya

This is Ethan's handywork. He does such a great job with decorating the house; we are one of the few houses on the block with outside lights, at least so far.

Below is some video of Taya. She is really "talkative" and is usually telling us or her frog a story. Hope you enjoy!!

Taya in her bumbo, telling dad all about it.

Pictures and update

Hi everybody and officially "Happy Holidays". The first day of advent was Sunday so we celebrated by putting up our Christmas tree. It was actually a two day process we started on Saturday and completed on Sunday. It was really fun to see Taya looking at the lights on the tree. She really loves sparkly things. Ethan put up our lights outside as well. We changed it up from the past two years, but he still put quite a few up. We are very much looking forward to spending time with our loved ones this season.

Taya had her 4 month check up yesterday which turned into an appointment for feeling sick. Taya began to get stuffed up with the sniffles on Sunday and by Wednesday morning developed a fever (luckily we had our doctor appointment planned). It turns out she has an ear infection and has now received her first medication of her life. It's hard to see her sick, but she is now feeling better and has even been talking and playing almost like her usual self last night and today.

Her new stats:
15 lbs 2 oz
25 inches long
Head circumference: 41 cm
Taya is in the 50th-75th percentile on everything. Dr. Harnish was very impressed with where she developmentally. We are also thinking she is going to start cutting some teeth soon. I got my first one at ~4 months old, so we aren't surprised.

We had a nice Thanksgiving at home with Papa Les. We made the whole sh'bang with turkey, mashed potatoes/gravy, a raspberry jello salad, relishes, yams, and pie. I won't divulge what we cheated on. Ethan did most of the work since I was on-call and was at work right before lunch.


Baby Eli Banks. I bought him a handmade diaper bag with matching quilt from my cousin Katie (she made mine) and I took a picture of him on the quilt. His mommy and daddy said they get a lot of use out of it :).

This was Nima the evening we got back from Grammy's after the big birthday/Thanksgiving bash. She was wiped out.

Taya in her new bumbo. She likes to sit in it, but gets tired after ~20 minutes. Thanks Grammy!

A slightly dated photo (from Nov. 18). Taya meeting Eli for the first time. "Hey, who's that?"

Ryan rather enjoyed holding the two at the same time.

Another dated picture of Taya with her dad-o. We were on our way to meet Eli.

Merry Christmas

Birthdays and Thanksgiving

Last weekend we traveled to Ogallala to Grammy's house. We celebrated Grandma Cena's 70th birthday and Jayden's 4th birthday on the 22nd. We also celebrated Thanksgiving complete with a turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, salads, rolls, relishes, birthday cake, and 4 layer pudding dessert (a.k.a. better than sex cake). We had a pretty good trip both ways; Taya was a much better traveler than at 6 weeks old, but we were also more prepared!

Today we will host Papa for Thanskgiving. Omi, Aunt Erin, and Auntie Emlyn are in Oregon with grandma and grandpa Kennedy and Aunt Elysia stayed in St. Louis. Grammy is in Palm Springs, and I am not sure where Uncle Wade will end up. I am on-call so we stayed in Omaha. We participated in a Turkey Trot for our church (registration was food donations for the Food Bank). It felt good to be active and help the less fortunate. We are thankful for all of our many blessings, including our family and friends. Enjoy the pictures!!


Cade (in green and white) and grandma Cena holding Jayden.
Haley Mae (my cousin, Britni's, daughter) getting kisses from Nima.

Haley and Taya (they are ~5 months apart)

"HI!!"

In the midst of a "great-grandkids" photo, Jayden is holding her cousin Taya. Nathan is beside them (my cousin Jared's son, well....one of them)

Ethan with the girls. I think he may have more daughters in his future :)

Haley, Jacob (another of Jared's), and Taya. All are within about 10 months in age of each other. Taya is in Haley's Bumbo and we ended up purchasing one on our way home.

The Graves' great-grandkids

L-R: Taya, Jayden, Nathan, Luke (holding Jacob), Mathew, Haley, Zoe. The boys are Jared's, Zoe also belongs to Britni. We were missing Kenna, Maya, and Emma from the photo.

Grandma Cena and Grandpa Bud with the youngest generation of "Graves"

Uncle Wade. He was pretty facinated by his niece, esp. her chubby cheeks and many rolls

Grandma Cena with Taya

Taya trying out the Bumbo

The cutest baby ever at her first Thanksgiving feast

Grandma and Grandpa with the grandkids

L-R back: Cade, Ashton, Tanner, grandma, grandpa, Jared, Britni

front: Garrett, Tracy (me), Wade

In our thoughts were cousins Tyler and Katie. Tyler was working at the farm and Katie was at home in Iowa

We were able to chat with cousin Katie and baby Emma via webcam. We missed them terribly but how amazing is technology??? We love you!!

Growing, swimming, and a new friend

Taya's new friend, Eli Andrew Banks.
November 17, 2008
8 lbs, 14 oz
21.5 inches long

My sweet baby girl is growing!!! She really fixes her eyes on things and is starting to bring her toys to her mouth.

The other night I tried to put her to bed in these pj's. As you can see they are a little too short and pretty snug. They are 0-3 month size.

The biggest clean pair I had were these Christmas pj's from Grandma Cena. They were a little big (size 6 mo), but the next morning they fit almost perfectly. She has added another nightly feeding and has been drinking about 3-4 more ounces at daycare each day.

Taya nursing while Nima supervises and cuddles with us.

We tried out a swimming class at Swimtastic last week. Taya did really well. She will start 12 weeks of lessons in January. Fun for mom and baby!!! (I still fit in my old swim suit)

My beautiful baby! We had her all bundled up to walk one day. She has the prettiest skin!

Emily last weekend. She was holding Taya on her shelf. Taya was sporting her CSC Eagles onesie and socks.

Taya hanging out with her daddy. Notice her funny face! She has many expressions and most of them resemble her dad.

Not a fabulous picture of me, but I couldn't resist posting one of her sleeping. She really likes to cuddle and usually catches some flies.

We are headed to grammy's on Thursday to celebrate my grandma Cena's 70th birthday, Jayden's 4th birthday, and Thanksgiving. We have been busy, but getting into a routine with daycare and work. We try to spend a lot of time together in the evening and on weekends so I don't post as often as I should. Today I am home with some gastroenteritis so I got a chance to post while I eat lunch. It is now time for me to study for class...have a Happy Thanksgiving!!