October 2009

Hi Everyone,

Back to blogging and now tackling October 2009. I know it seems silly to be looking back 5 months (eek!), but if I don't document this stuff here, it will be lost in my brain forever!


October was a busy month for us, lots to report!


Bert and Ernie
October 4th

Taylor and I joined her buddy Olivia and her mommy Marni to go see a Children's Theater production of Bert and Ernie. We decided to buy tickets in the front row and because the girls are young enough, we just had to buy "lap passes" for them. Great deal!

Overall the experience went ok, but Taylor was a little freaked out and was ready to go after 15 minutes into the show. There were a few other loud moments in the show that totally freaked her out and she spent most of the performance sitting facing me looking over her shoulder at the crazy actors on the stage. Poor baby. I don't think the front row was the best choice, but now we know!
Since then, we went to see Cinderella and sat in the balcony. That show went really well and Taylor kept telling me "I didn't cry!". She was very proud of herself. :)



Picking out pumpkins
October 9th


While mommy was in class, Al, Grandpa and Taylor went to an annual activity hosted by our realty company that we used to buy our house. The weather was freakishly cold for early October and we actually had some frost/snow on the ground. NOT fun. October is my favorite month and I do not appreciate the early winter weather. That is NOT Fall!

Poor Taylor bundled up in the wagon to go pick out pumpkins.

It looks like a Fall event, right?

Taylor posing with the snowy flowers. They did get some good pumpkins at least!

Nana Visit

October 16th-19th

In mid-October we had a nice weekend visit from Al's mom, Nana. We don't get down to Kansas as much as we would like so we love having his family come up to see us when they can.

This picture was taken right before heading to the park with Nana and daddy. You can tell by the gear that it actually warmed up a bit by mid-Oct compared to the pumpkin outing.

Our little J Crew tot, ha!

In cold MN, it's all about the layers! Trying on a new onesie that Taylor's Aunt DeeDee (Al's sister) and her cousins made for her. Wish we could've been with you guys for the fun!

Nana was able to be in town for Joni's family's annual tradition of a fall walk followed by a trip to the Apple House. We've been doing this for as long as I can remember and is one of my reasons for loving Fall.

Al, Taylor and Nana

Mommy and Grandpa helping Taylor check out some berries.

Taylor with mommy's glasses. We had forgotten hers and little Miss really dislikes the sun. It's so funny! She always complains about it being too bright and needing her sunglasses. So mommy sacrificed and let her wear mine. Our poor little Minnesota girl is so sensitive to the sunlight! Hm, wonder if she will ever be a "beach" girl?

Family shot

Towards the end of the walk and Taylor was needing some lunch. I think she was all done with the annual walking trip.

Group photo! Al, Joni, Grandpa, Grandma, Taylor and Nana.

Great shot of Al and his mom, Taylor was not really in the mood.

My two favorite people. :)

Apple Orchard

October 24th

It wouldn't be Fall without at least a couple of outings to do hay rides, pick apples, etc. We met with our friends Gal, Marni and Olivia and a couple other families for some fall fun south of the Twin Cities.

Taylor was really brave and decided she was ready to ride a pony. I was SO proud of her! She is not one to take risks on anything and you can't force her to do it if she doesn't want to. She did like it despite the look on her face in this photo:

There's a smile!

There was a petting zoo, but unfortunately it was way too muddy to let people in so we peaked over the wall and someone was there to greet us! Taylor thought this Llama was pretty fun.

Having a good time on the tractor ride through the apple orchard. Man, when we get a good smile out of her it just makes the picture!

The dynamic duo, Olivia and Taylor. These two are so fun together. Squealing in delight when they see each other (even though they see each other EVERY day at daycare) and making each other giggle. They are also like sisters in the sense that they can get tired of each other and are not shy in telling the other to bug off. Both have strong personalities and that shows in both good and not so good ways. They continue to be best of friends though and have been since they were infants!

Family shot.

First Hair Cut

October 30th

So for her first two years, I had just trimmed Taylor's bangs myself. Well then we decided over the summer to begin growing out her bangs and it finally got to a point where we needed to tame those locks. Nothing drastic, but just some clean up.

She did pretty good, but wasn't excited about getting in the chair. Finally after a bribe with a sucker and Dora on the little TV, she was ok.

The place we went was all decked out for Halloween and all the sylists were dressed up. After her hair cut, Taylor got to decorate a goody bag and fill it with candy and prizes. A great first experience!

Love those locks, we've been asked a couple times if we curl her hair, but it's all natural! It's even more springy in the summer when it's humid. Love those curls. That was my biggest fear about getting her hair cut, losing the curls, but so far we still have them!

Halloween!

October 31st

This year Taylor went as a kangaroo. It was SO cute! The costume even came with a baby kangaroo that would fit in her pouch, but it kept falling out. She preferred to carry it anyway.

We started the evening in my mom's neighborhood so she could meet some of the neighbors. She never quite said the "Trick or Treat" part, but was very good at the "Thank yous".

When we arrived back in our neighborhood, we met up with Taylor's buddy Elijah from daycare who just happened to move in 5 houses down from us in September! They were such good trick-or-treating buddies.

That's it for now. We still have many months to catch up on and hope to do so quickly so we can be on time when Baby Girl #2 arrives! Only 3 months away!

Al and Joni Plus TWO! It's another girl!

Taking a break from updating the past few months and giving an update on the past week. As most everyone knows by now, Al and I are expecting bambino #2 at the end of May (dates range from May 26 - June 1). Just this past week, we were surprised to find out we were having another girl! And judging from the ultrasound and the constant acrobatics in the evenings, a very active one! For some reason we both thought it would be a boy, but Taylor started telling us the week prior that it was a girl. So funny. Now we just need to start thinking of names!
Can't wait to begin another adventure with another precious miracle. :)

September 2009

Per usual, all of my goals of catching up with blogging went out the window during my time off from school. Blame the holidays! I thought I would try to do a seasonal update and just do "Fall 2009", but we had A LOT going on. So I will do monthly updates until we are caught up. Maybe by May we will have Christmas and our trip to Florida (currently sitting in the Keys right now) posted.

Visit from the Dudergeils!

Our September continued to be a fun month after our Labor Day trip to Austin. In mid-September, we had a fun visit from the Dudergeils (Duderstadts)! I met Suzanne when I first moved down to Austin in 2001. She was the first friend that I made and didn't just know through Al. She and I worked together at a mortgage servicing company and then she left to work at Guaranty Bank and later found an opening for me there. We have become very close friends and continue to talk almost every day through email. She, Keith (her husband) and Nicholas (2 year old son) live in the Fort Worth area and we get to see them a couple times a year on average. They are also expecting (a girl) and are about 10 weeks ahead of Al and I. So fun!

Taylor loves "her Nick" and they had a great time playing together.

Here are the trouble makers helping me make breakfast the first morning. Look at those sweet and innocent faces!

That day we headed to the Como Zoo in St. Paul. It was actually pretty warm for a mid-September day!

Sweetie-pies holding hands.

Checking out the cute baby monkey.

Later that night, two peas in a pod.

Double trouble trying to get out of the backyard.

Thanks for making the trip up north guys, we loved having you!!

Taylor's Falls

For those non-Minnesotans, yes, this place is really called Taylor's Falls. We didn't just call it that because Taylor loved it. :)

On one of my many Saturdays in class, Al took Taylor a little north to do some hiking and exploring. He always thinks of such fun activities for the two of them to do while I am gone.

Cute self-portrait:

Taylor exploring every nook and cranny:

Happy girl, loving the great outdoors (must have been a game day too):

Checking out the fallen pine needles:

Up next, continuing the fall festivities in October!

Taylor's First Football Game!

Once again we find ourselves more "behind" in our family blogging than we'd like to be, but better late than never, right? In early September we made the trek back to Austin, with our sights set on Taylor's first trip to Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium to see her beloved Longhorns open the 2009 football season. From the get-go, Miss Tay was ready to roll (and this time with her own travel bag).

Quality breakfast tacos are a must before a long day of tailgating and cheering for the Horns.

She chowed-down too! I think she has a new favorite breakfast.

The Godfather had no problems taking the reigns of the stroller and making the mile long trek from the parking spot to the tailgate (although Taylor's purple backpack may have thrown off his balance, which explains why her hair had a faint smell of Miller Lite).

......nap and rally!!!

With the escalator line stretching all the way out of the stadium, we decided to take the ramp up all 10 flights to our seats. But Taylor was loving every minute of it. Not counting a 2 level carrying stretch by Daddy, Taylor made the entire walk by herself.

Come on Daddy, we don't want to miss the Boys running out of the tunnel.

Once we were there, she was very engaged, and ALWAYS on the lookout for Bevo. Actually, we think she was calling out "BBEEEEVOOO" when this picture was taken. For those of you not in the know - Bevo is the live longhorn mascot

Taylor and Daddy taking in all the action.

As if we weren't high enough, Taylor gets an even better and more fun vantage point.

Loud and proud, baby!

Taylor was definitely feeling it. We swear, we don't practice this stuff at home

Here's our final parting shot from the stadium. Taylor was having such a great time, we were pretty much the last to leave the stadium. If you can believe it, this shot was taken around 10:00pm, and we entered the stadium around 5:30. She was such a trooper, but she felt so at home with the other 100,000 Longhorn fans that crankiness never entered her mind.

The next day we went to the Salt Lick for the best BBQ on the planet. This picture is Taylor's first public "time out". Note the amount of remorse on her face for not listening. But that's ok, she can't be perfect during each and every Austin related excursion.

Our sweet princess in her warrior paint after a long, but well loved, very successful, and thoroughly enjoyed trip to Austin.

Taylor's 2nd Birthday!

Hi everyone!
It's back to delayed posts, I have so much to catch up on. For startes, Taylor's birthday which was over a month ago! Good thing my mothering skills aren't measured by how quickly I post updates, that wouldn't be good. ;)

First things first, the stats!

Weight: 27lb 13oz (60th percentile)
Length: 35" (77th percentile) Sidebar: I wonder when they start calling it "height"? Hm.
Head: 19.75" (99th percentile!) We are very conscious about the neck holes in shirts. :)

Taylor Jean turned two on August 16th and had quite the week of parties, presents, cake and lots of love. She is starting to understand what birthdays are all about now. I think she was claiming it was her birthday for at least 3 weeks. Al's was on Sept 22nd and I think that finally broke the cycle. Now she's all about, "It's MY daddy's birthday!". So precious.

To start us off on the birthday celebrating, "Yibby" and "Yincon" (Libby and Lincoln) were in town before her birthday and came by to give a fun present to her.

Hmmm, tissue paper and a box. I'm not really getting it.

Oh! I see! A fun bumble-bee ride! She was in love. Good thing for hard-wood floors.

On Sunday, August 16th, we had Taylor's birthday party. The weather was teasing us all day and we were really worried that it would rain. I didn't even want to think about it because we had close to 40 people show up for the day! Our house is not equipped for a party of that size indoors. Maybe someday when we redo the basement!

Anyway, by the time the party started at 4:00, the clouds had parted and the sun was shining. It was pretty windy, but we weren't going to complain. We got to have all the tots (all 8 of them) outside!

Taylor Jean first thing in the morning. She wanted milk, water AND juice that morning. Why not, it's her birthday!

Love those locks!

Party time!

Even as her friends start showing up, Taylor is obsessed with the baby. They were making each other giggle, it was so sweet.

We had to have three water tables with the amout of kids that came over. Thank goodness we were able to borrow a couple from Taylor's friends! Notice that they still crowd around one.

Some of Joni's family, Uncle Joe, Aunt Ann, and Uncle/Godfather Bryan

Some daycare parents and Joni:

Organized chaos:

Had to put in this picture so the Texas crew can see the Longhorns decked out for the party. ;)

Birthday Princess:

Birthday cake! Notice the sneaky little finger coming closer to the cake:

Time for some girl chat, the Three Musketeers (daycare buddies):

Who knew that they most exciting gift (for ALL the tots) was the mini-table and chairs from great aunt Joan and uncle Bryan???

These three had a riot sitting at the table and banging their hands. Too funny to hear their little giggles.

Post party bliss, another fun one, a new stroller and baby doll from Jon and Priya!

Later in the week, Taylor finally mustered up some energy to open more presents. This was the grandparent and parent round. She opened present from us, my parents, Al's parents and great-grandma, Mimi.

A Vet kit from Amma and Bumpa (Joni's parents)!

A Bevo book from Mimi!! Taylor loves to read books, but this was the FIRST book she ever insisted on reading more than one or two times A NIGHT. It was perfect timing too because we were headed to Austin in a couple weeks. She loves that Bevo now.

Cheesin' for the camera while we open Nana and Papa's gift:

Awww, a stuffed Hippo! Taylor giving some love:

I can't believe our baby girl is two! She is such a little adult and makes us laugh constantly. Such a little comedian. Everything from mimicking our expressions to running around the house in a silly way. She is also really into pretend play. She loves making meals with her play-food and dishes, has conversation with her stuffed animals and dolls (and answers for them), talks on the phone and tells us who it is (Nana/Aama/Mimi/Bumpa).

Some recent Taylorisms:

After I put her into her carseat after picking her up from daycare, she looked up at me and said, "How YOU doin'?" HAHA!

"Beep! Beep! Ya!" when she wants to listen to the Beatles, "Baby You Can Drive My Car"

"I scare me!" When one of us startles her.

"Oh my gosh!" To just about anything, but lately it's every time she sees our UT flag hanging on the garage, "Mommy, oh my gosh!"

"Settle down ba-bas! No-no Chewy!" She likes to take control of the situation when the dogs are playing or are in her space. She absolutely loves them though, lots of hugs and kisses and we can't leave the house in the morning without her saying bye-bye to them.

"Yay mommy/daddy!" When one of US goes potty.

"My do it." Very independent little lady.

And finally...when Al or I say, "You're such a big girl!" she replies, "No, I'm a big BOY!" ;)

Coming up, summer wrap-up of some micellaneous outtings, first UT game over Labor Day, and a visit from Suzanne, Keith and Nicholas!

Happy Fall everyone!