Already 4 months old!!!!!

Our sweet Tay-bug turned four months on the 17th!!! Hard to believe. She is so fabulous and such a great baby! Our family of rowdy, noisy boys has nothing but thrived since the arrival of this precious girl. Matt and I obviously knew (practically, not in reality) what the difference of a girl would bring to our home, but it's been fun to hear and see Noah and Tucker's reactions. Noah has such a love and affection for Taylor (and her for him) that is incredible to see. I know he loves Tucker and would do anything for him, but unfortunately at this stage it usually is in the context of doing anything TO him!!! The boys do play well together, but sometimes the moments seem few and far between....anyway back on topic....Noah can be doing the most "boyish", rough, loudest thing and notice that Taylor is near and his whole demeanor, voice pitch/volume, and speed changes. He curls up with her and loves on her and she just smiles and coos!! Those are definitely adorable, "need to soak in" moments!!! Don't get me wrong, Tucker adores her, too. But in a 2 yr. old world it looks a little different. There have been times that I've left the kiddos (for brief moments I assure you) in one room while I attempt to do something in another room. When I come back Tucker will inform me that "Taylor didn't want me to hold her!!" My thoughts and questions to him are the obvious...."Did she tell you this? Did you try? Why is she now in a different place????? I assure you that this doesn't happen very often (Please don't report!!! haha). Tucker notices more of the obvious differences with having a little girl around (What are those mommy? Those are tights, Tucker. Why does she have THOSE on? To keep her warm and they're cute!! Take them OFF. - another-What is that in her hair? That's a bow, Tucker. Why is it there? To look cute and help tame the hair a litte! Do you like it, Tucker? NO, take it out!!!)

Anyway....at 4 months Taylor is keeping up with the Gurney rate of baby growth!! At the doc on Friday she weighed 15 lbs. and 13ozs. and she's a little over 26 inches tall!!!!!! Slightly more tall than chubby, woohoo!!!!! Her hair continues to stand straight up (even though it is getting longer), so you'll notice that a bow now stays in. That helps it look like it's done on purpose!!! She eats and sleeps fabulous!! Four feedings a day and sleeping 12-13 hours at night. She chews on everything and is already practicing her singing (at 3 a.m.) the other night!!!! Seriously, Matt and I woke up to her just singing away and then about 10 minutes later she was quiet again!! I would have to say that her favorite past-time is watching her brothers play. That's when we get the most grins and giggles out of her!! She's already not a fan of the nursery at church, but she'll have to get over that or just deal, right??!!! OK, so enough words, right, you want to see pictures of this precious "bug" I've been describing. Here she is with "Doodles" the dog:

OUR NEW HOUSE (take 2)

Trying this again....computer just erased whole post....Welcome to our new home FINALLY!!! We love owning our own home...what a fantastic feeling! We have projects that we want to do (the biggest being fencing the backyard), but we're just waiting on time (yea right) and money!
Downstairs-Master bed/bath, open floor plan for den and kitchen, half bath, back door to deck
Upstairs-Play/Music/Office room, Boys' room, Tay's room, and kid bath
Here it is:

Taylor Giles Gurney

Here are the long awaited pictures of our little "Tay bug"...thanks for your patience. It's interesting that the last post from us was Taylor's ultrasound pictures and here she is at ONE MONTH OLD!!! Life is crazy, but we are having a blast with three precious, high-energy kids. The boys can't get enough of their little sister (and I guess each other too as far as that goes...it's just expressed differently). We are really noticing that Taylor turns towards her brothers' voices when they're in the room. Why wouldn't she, that's all she heard for nine months, right?? Noah calls her "Tay Tay" and Tucker finally moved from "That Baby" to "Taywor!!!" She is precious and sleeping like a champ for a one month old. I only get up with her one time during the night, and few nights she has let me sleep eight hours!!!! Well, anyway, I could keep giving you updates, but really haven't got the time. Maybe just comment with questions that you have for the Gurneys and our life as a a five person family!!! Love you guys!!!!

Taylor Giles at 31 weeks!!

Oh my word, we are so pumped about Taylor being here in 8 weeks!!! I won an all-inclusive package for 3D ultrasound session and pictures at this place in Lexington. We all went yesterday and had a blast looking at our precious girl. Noah and Tucker were so into it (well, into the toys that were in the room too). Noah could recognize things on the screen faster than I could tell what they were. She kept her arm by her face the whole time. Here are just a few of the better shots. Taylor definitely has the cheeks and lips that seem to run in our family. We really think she looks like Noah. I compared these with ultrasound pics of Noah and they are very similar!!! We can't wait to meet her and hold her!!

Houses and more houses!!

So with the boys gone to MS, Matt and I took advantage of the time and went to see a couple of houses this morning before leaving on our mission trip to Chicago tomorrow. We saw two extremes of houses. One being the low end of our affordable range, definitely liveable but would have things to be done to it (a little at first: painting, fence in the backyard; a lot of projects along the way...when we're up for it and have the time with three little ones, two full time jobs, and youth ministry activities). The other house was on our higher end (budgeting more for our house payment than what we're used to) but an amazing house, great floor plan, no work needed unless we wanted to change color schemes. So many pros and cons to both. A very interesting and exciting place for our minds and hearts to be right now. Just wanted to share with our friends/family.
We leave for Chicago tomorrow for 7 days. Pray for us!!

Soccer Camp

Noah had a blast at soccer camp last week! His coach, Coach John, was from Scotland and a great encouragment to these kids. There were 5 kids at the camp ranging from 3-4 yrs. old. Pretty sure Noah was the oldest and he did fantastic following directions and listening to the coach (as best he could with his NC/KY ears to the Scottish accent...quite hilarious at times). Here are some videos too:

Long Awaited Pictures from the Summer so far!!!

We stayed in MS for a few days before heading to the beach to spend time with family. Matt's aunt and uncle have great trees in their yard. This may be Noah and Tucker's first real experience with climbing trees. They had scratches on their legs to prove it...can you say, "ALL BOY!!!"

Aunt Jen, Matt's sister, got Noah and Tucker fishing poles for the birthdays. This was Noah, Tucker, and my first time fishing!!! Thanks Jen, the boys had a blast!!!

Here are the pictures from Gulf Shores, AL. We had an amazing time and were richly blessed by family and the breath-taking scenery.

"CHEESE!!! I love this sandbox, mom." Tucker called the beach the sandbox and it actually made him more fond of going. I guess he needs to see things on his terms!!!

The dads digging with the kiddos. Glenn is quite the artist and made an elephant carving when it was all said and done. It was the place for walkers to stop and take family pictures!!! Quite impressive...

The parentals enjoying the waves. Thanks mom and dad for an amazing week at the beach! You guys are awesome!!!!

One of many amazing sunsets on the beach. We actually saw dolphins one night while watching. What a gift from our Creator to remind us of His power and grace to us!!

Matt, Noah, Jen, Taylor, and Tucker Gurney

Bailey, Glenn, Amy, Girl #3, and Jenny LaRue

brothers snuggled up after a long day on the beach

The whole gang outside of King Neptunes Seafood...my favorite meal of the week!!

The only way to get these kiddos to smile for atleast some of the pictures was to promis them a goofy picture...here it is!!!

The Dads of the group!!

The moms of the group!!

Katie Martin and her precious boys came to Winchester for a few days while our husbands were on youth trips. Ed is gone for 10 days and Matt is gone to Student Life Camp for only 5, but it was a great way for us to keep busy and have fun catching up and seeing our FOUR BOYS play together. Here are some pics that somewhat capture the excitement and non-stop energy that went on over the last 4 days!!!

Micah using his muscles to push Tucker up the hill. What a life, Tucker!!

Here the gang is at the famous Winchester Mexican Restaurant. Noah looks alittle drugged from either the chips and salsa or the Spanish TV show he could not keep his eyes off of!!

Micah and Noah enjoying the "make-shift" pool. What hilarious boys!!!

The older and younger...it was interesting and cool to see Noah's natural instinct to take care of Caleb...maybe a sign for the fall, right?!

Intense stares on the Diego episodes!!! I think this was the only time that Micah, Tucker, and Noah sat still! Good breaks for pregnant moms!!!

Oh my word!!! Can't get enough of these handsome grins! Need I remind you that you are looking at 4 boys ages 4,3,2, and 1!!!!

Look at the goofyness coming from these Youth Minister boys!!! Do expect any difference??! They definitely take after their dads!!!