Elmo Birthday Party

Last week I started telling Taylor that she was having a birthday party Saturday.  She didn’t quite understand until we brought out the plates and napkins and then ‘I Elmo Party’ was a frequent statement from her.  Come Saturday, she was so excited but had no clue what she was really supposed to be excited about.  Let’s just say that she was thrilled when she got to Gymboree and saw what her Elmo party really was.  This year we had a combined birthday party with Graham and Leili since all the kids are only 8 days apart. 

Graham’s mom made these adorable Elmo and Cookie Monster cupcakes.  Not only were they super cute, they were yummy too!

 

so excited she had no clue where to start ~ loving music time ~ walking up the birthday candle with Daddy

         

Ella’s turn on the candle ~ row boat with Elena

 

Leili, Graham, and Taylor ~ Yummy red frosting! ~ Ashley & Rebel

Daddy time – Chad & Ella, Chris & Taylor, and Whit & Carter

         

Bubble time was a BIG hit!

After Gymboree, we headed back to the house for dinner with friends and family.  Thank goodness for a beautiful day because the kids barely stopped to eat they were having so much fun outside.  Chris insisted We got Taylor a truck for her birthday, but Chris’ parents also brought over the Power Wheels tractor they got her.   Taylor didn’t know which toy to go to first but the tractor won.(I don’t blame her, it’s pretty cool!)  It didn’t take long for these vehicles to get moved to the grass and filled with kids. 

     

choices ~ Taylor thinks you have to push on your foot to get it to move ~ finally giving it some gas

     

Taylor really got into the concept of reading cards and opening presents, but still has a hard time with not being able to play with each item right away.  She got lots of fun new toys and we can’t wait for warmer weather to use some of her new sprinkler toys!  We ended the night with a cookie cake(much appreciated by the adults).  It was such a wonderful day that Taylor has been asking for ‘Elmo Party’ each day since. 

Thank you to everyone who helped make her day so special!

 

ps.  anyone want to come over and play princess dress up since Mommy doesn’t fit into the clothes too well????

Under Construction

Please bear with me as I finally update my blog.  I came on here the other day and realized I still had a Christmas theme up.  YIKES!  I tried using some of the cute layouts that are out there, but they limit me on picture layouts so I am working on making my own background/header again.  Let me know if you are having any problems reading the blog.

Two Years Old

Sweet girl I can’t believe you are two years old today!  You are the light of your Daddy and my lives.  We never imagined how much our lives would change two years ago when you were born.  This past year you have changed from a baby into a little girl.  We have watched your imagination grow along with your curiosity for things.  You constantly entertain us with your little ways of doing things or the things you say.  You have come from this tiny(well not so tiny) thing that we weren’t quite sure what to do with to a little girl that loves to give hugs and kisses.

You love to pretend to sleep(a game Daddy taught you), coloring, reading books, dancing, singing, being pushed in the swing, dressing up in any available shoes, eating ice(stealing it out of any ice chest you find), coming up with new things to pray for, and being outside. (Chris is going to kill me for posting this picture) 

Your favorite books are any of the Llama Llama books, How Animals Kiss Goodnight, How a Dinosaur Says Goodnight, Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes, and Princess Baby Night-Night.

You love to sing Twinkle Twinkle, Pat-a-cake, Itsy Bitsy Spider, ABC’s, Mary had a Little Lamb, and Old McDonald.  Sometimes I’m the only person who can understand what you are singing, but I love hearing your versions.

You love babies and finding the baby and mama in pictures or toys.  You are constantly loving on you baby doll Emma or the little one that you convinced Nana to buy you.  You like to give them kisses and make sure they are tucked in tight.  You make such a good Mommy to your toys.  Your favorites are still Bunny and Blankie and can be found by your side at naptime and nighttime. 

Our days are filled with new adventures and sometimes you like to just snuggle and watch Dora or Handy Manny.  While I thought I was doing good teaching you to count to 15, Handy Manny’s tools taught you to count to 9 in Spanish.  You find ways to challenge my parenting skills and keep me on my toes, sometimes on a daily basis.  You love ice cream, strawberries, cheese sticks, whatever cereal Daddy is eating, mac-n-cheese, rice, lettuce with ranch, french fries, M&Ms(you call Ms)and lemonade. 

While I still can’t believe you are 2 already, I am enjoying the person you are becoming.  You have such a personality and keep me entertained everyday.  I look forward to this next year and watching as your grow and change even more.   I know it will be years before you read this blog and you will probably be embarrassed at all the silly pictures and crazy posts, but I want you to know how much we love you Pea!

Taylor Tuesday

After looking through the pictures from Taylor's birthday party Saturday, Chris and I couldn't stop laughing at this one.  She was in heaven with all the different things to climb and crawl on.

Love for reading

From a very young age I loved to read and was so excited when I discovered series like Sweet Valley Twins, Sweet Valley High, and Nancy Drew.  I kept my love of reading until high school when my reading choices were no longer my choices but those of the ‘required lists’.  For some reason Charles Dickens and I just didn’t find our love for each other and I struggled with reading for once in my life.  I lost my love for a while until I rediscovered it again in college.  Someone introduced me to Janet Evanovich and her crazy bounty hunter character.  Book by book I fell back in love with reading.  Stamping took over my reading time for a few years, and then after I had Taylor I found my way back to reading.  I went through the books on my shelves and anything that a friend lent me.  As part of my 29 before 30 I made a goal to read a book a month and that has been an easy goal to reach.  Sometimes I think Chris would be happier if I limited my reading to ONLY one book a month. 

 

Last year I re-read all the Janet Evanovich books in the Stephanie Plum series except for number fifteen because it was still in hardback and checked out at the library. 

I then moved on to Charlaine Harris’ Sookie Stackhouse series.  If you haven’t read these they are awesome!  The HBO series Tru Blood is loosely based off them and makes for an interesting interpretation.  Now to wait until the next one comes out so I can find out who Sookie falls for next.  I couldn’t get enough of her writing and also read ‘A Touch of Dead’ which are short stories that fill in some gaps between books.  I love it when Misty comes to visit because she always has a stack of books for me to read and we like similar styles of books.  She’s the one who got me hooked on the Sookie books, so she brought me ‘How to Sleep with a Movie Star’, ‘The Art of French Kissing’, ‘Italian for Beginner’s’, and ‘The Blonde Theory’ all by Kristin Harmel.  She is another great writer.  M also brought me ‘Shopaholic and Sister’.  I’ve read some of the other Shopaholic books and while they are funny, I cringe through the entire book with the amount of money that she spends! 

By now you’ve guessed that I do not read books to become smarter or how to better my life.  Reading is my escape for a few minutes, hours, or however long I can hide from Chris and Taylor.  I like a fun and fast read that is not going to give me nightmares or stress me out.

After dealing with a few toddler tantrums I figured it was time to stop and read a few parenting books to make my daily life a little easier.  It’s funny how I can read a fun book in a few days/a week but it took me almost a month to finish Toddlerwise and Toddler 411.  I just dreaded picking the book up and always feel asleep while trying to read them.  I love my daughter and want to be a great parent, but sometimes those books are just way too dry! 

Boy was I excited when I could put down the parenting books and get back to fun reading.  I started off with Dear John by Nicholas Sparks.  Maybe it was just me, but don’t read this book without a few tissues.  I read it on the plane to NY and Desha had to keep giving me her napkins as the tears just rolled down my face.  It was a great book but sad in parts, but that’s common with a Sparks book.  To lighten the mood I tried LA Candy by Lauren Conrad next.  You can tell that she’s not a writer but the plot is somewhat interesting and the bad thing is that she leaves you completely hanging at the end of the book.  I had to buy the next book just to find out what happens to the character. (it’s in my stack to read, but let me know if you want to borrow them)  I enjoyed the Kristin Harmel books that Misty had given me so I read ‘After’ and ‘When you wish’ that are also by her.  These are a bit more juvenile and not as good, but still better than LA Candy.  Misty has been to Austin for a visit lately so I had to resort to my own bookshelf for another book and was excited when I found ‘The Lucky One’.  In my mind I thought it was the Miley Cyrus movie that’s in theaters right now and was very confused when I started to read it and it sounded nothing like the movie trailer.  That would be bc Miley Cyrus is in ‘The Last Song’.  It was a good book and very worth reading! 

Another fun surprise on my book shelf was ‘Grave Sight’ by Charlaine Harris.  This is another character series she wrote with four books currently in the series.  They just as good as the Sookie series but I’m already sad that I’m on book 3 and only have one left.  That means I have two books on my ‘To Read’ list and then am looking for a few more great books to read.  What books have you read lately that you love?

Taylor Tuesday

Sometimes I don't even realize it's Tuesday and I'm supposed to be sending out an email until Tuesday's almost over.  Don't fret, because I have a great photo of our girl today.  She loved playing with casaronas(spell check does not like that word so I hope I spelled it right) but preferred to crush them in her own hands rather than over someone's head.  I think she loved crushing the eggs and finding the confetti more than she did finding M&M's inside the ones our bunny left.  Hope everyone had a great Easter!

Camping

Right after Chris and I got married the topic of camping came up.  I said ‘No Way!’ and his family said it was something they always did but in the past 4 years we had been dating they never went camping.  To the beach… yes.  Snow skiing… yes.  On a cruise… yes.  Camping….. um I think I would remember that one.  Well this city girl was not keen on the idea of peeing in the woods or backpacking to wherever our tent would be.  This did not sound like fun to me.  You can ask my mom, I love being near food that can be delivered or convenient shopping.  The only time you can get me away from it is if the wood ‘lakehouse’ is involved.  Chris informed me that I would not have to pee in the woods or backpack to anywhere so I thought I could give this a try. 

We continued to go camping each spring and fall with a group of families that Chris grew up with in his old neighborhood.  It has been so much fun getting together with them for these camping trips to play dominos, go on walks, roast marshmallows, and drink mimosas.  Yes I said mimosas.  On my first trip I was greeted with a mimosa when I got up on Saturday morning and decided that this was definitely something I could do.  We have endured cold, rain, heat, torrential rainstorms that were edges of tornados, and bees.  Each trips brings a new adventure and new stories to tell.  Chris and I camp each time in a tent and have expanded this love of camping to Taylor.  We took her for the first time last spring and again last weekend.  Most of our group still lives in Austin, so we love to go to Inks Lake.  Last year was nice since she was starting to walk, but I have to say that her inquisitive mind made this year even more fun.  

As a special treat for the trip, I made Taylor a Cars pillowcase.  We had found the fabric a few weeks ago, but I finally sat down and made the pillowcase in time for the trip.  She LOVED it!.  She also loved helping Daddy set up the tent.  She was such a big girl and slept on her on area next to us in the tent.  

   

She could’ve dug in the dirt for days if we let her.  It was like a mud puddle in the bathtub when we got home.  There was a rock across the street from our site that was perfect for climbing with Daddy.

     

While the group photo was pretty easy to get this year, a picture of the all the kids was much harder than we thought.  This was one of the only nearby spots with bluebonnets so we took a chance.  Luckily we were able to keep all the kids out of the cactus.  It’s cool to me that these are the kids of kids that grew up together and have similar pictures from when they all went camping together.  We also realized that someone needs to have a boy to help balance out all the girls so far.  The girls are 1, 2, 5 months, and 2 1/2 years old and played so well together.  The one year old is just starting to walk and was dying to keep up with the big girls!  We look forward to many adventures with these four!

We didn’t actually camp with the group in the spring of ‘08 since I was VERY pregnant with Taylor and didn’t think I would survive the air mattress.  Our group takes a picture every year to remember who all was there.  The first two pictures are from that year and the last is from spring ‘09.

I am so thankful that Chris introduced me to a new adventure many years ago and hope that Taylor grows to love camping as much as we do!

Taylor’s Playlist

I never thought my almost 2 year old would have a playlist, but on my iPod she does and Chris keeps a few of these songs handy on his.  Ever wondered what a 2 year old likes to listen to???  Here’s her playlist:

Good Girls Go Bad by Cobra Starship (referred to as ‘Good Girls’)

I Gotta Feeling by Black Eyed Peas

Boom Boom Pow by Black Eyed Peas

Tik Tok by Ke$ha (a BIG fav)

Hey, Soul Sister by Train (she can name this song within the first few chords)

Coconut by Harry Nilsson (from Practical Magic)

Apples and Bananas – from one of the Wee Sing CD’s

If You’re Happy and you Know it – from the Veggies Tales CD (referred to as the clapping song)

It’s so nice to see Taylor’s love of music change over her short life.  She first showed some dancing skills to Lady GaGa’s Starstruck and then loved singing along to Lady GaGa’s Poker Face.  I was a bit worried that she would stick with the techno music until she became obsessed with Wheels on the Bus.  She would beg for this song anytime we were in the car and often ask for it to be sung outside the car.  Luckily her music choices have expanded and we now mix up the nursery rhymes with a few radio hits.  My ears are very thankful for the variety!

What’s on your toddler’s playlist? 

Taylor Tuesday

I know I've found my Taylor Tuesday picture when I look through pictures from the past week and one brings a big smile to my face.  Taylor was in heaven with her dessert on this evening and she is very big into sharing bites of whatever she is eating right now.  She would be saying 'Momma some too?' during this picture.
Have a great Tuesday!

 

Taylor Tuesday

Taylor found a new way to eat a cupcake at my Mom's birthday party over the weekend.

Taylor Tuesday

No shoes are safe in our house as you've seen with Taylor walking in my heels.  Well... she finally got the courage up to try on Daddy's.

ps. try to ignore the pile of laundry next to Taylor!

My future’s so bright

Taylor and I have been enjoying this sunshine and that includes spending some time on the playscape.  I think this girl would spend hours in her swing if she could.  The only problem is from about 4 to 5 pm the sun shines right down on her face while swinging so I shared my sunglasses with our little cutie.

I was pulling pictures together for Project Life (blog about this coming soon) and couldn’t resist sharing.  I think Taylor is channeling the Olsen twins with their giant oversized sunglasses.

Taylor Tuesday

Wanna know how to smell a flower?