One-year Pictures (Well Almost...)

The three of us came down with a cold after Easter weekend, and it hit Mom the hardest. Her and Taylor have been really congested from about Wednesday until this weekend. So Dad decided to be the blogger this time and give Taylor and Mom a break.

Taylor, Mom, and Dad went back to Portrait Innovations to get her birthday pictures taken. If you've been keeping up, for Kim's birthday (Nov 1) Mimi and Poppa took Taylor in for her 6 month pictures. We really enjoyed those pictures, but were very much overwhelmed by the number of package options available. This time we had a plan and came out with exactly what we wanted and were less boggled. Our photographer wasn't as good as the lady we had last time, but none-the-less Taylor is still a good model...watch out Gisele!

Laying on the charm pretty thick

She's like the top models, she
knows what the photographer wants

This one is Dad's favorite...he's in big
trouble when Taylor starts asking for money

These next 3 are the ones we got printed out
and took home

Two

Three, hope you enjoyed them as much as we do!!!

Happy Easter

Happy Easter!! This was actually Taylor's second Easter. Last year we brought Taylor home from the hospital on Easter Day. Kind of funny that Taylor's had two Easters in less than one year!

We went to church in Brownfield with our friends Max and Janice. It was sort of a gloomy day...cold and rainy....but it was nice to spend it with our friends and their family. We missed getting to travel to see our family members, but we know we'll be seeing everyone soon!!

Look what the Easter bunny brought me!! Two Easter baskets full of good stuff!! Thanks to Aunt Kelley and Uncle Doug for the white basket, Mimi for the brown basket, and Mimi and Nana for all of the goodies!!

Taylor couldn't wait to read her new book!

Such a happy little Easter girl!

Taylor's very first Easter! She's so tiny!

What a difference a year makes!! Taylor was NOT digging the bunny ears!!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

An Irish girl at heart!! (by the way...she's not wearing any clothes b/c we're about to put her PJs on!)

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Gimme some green milk!!

A day at the park

We took a family outing to Caprock Canyons State Park this past Sunday. The state park is approximately 1.5 hours from Lubbock. We had plans to do a couple of light hikes and to have a picnic lunch. The weather was projected to be in the mid-60s.....so that's how Tyson and I dressed!! Boy were we unprepared!! The temperature never got above 43 degrees!! What the heck! The weather people in Lubbock are not very good.

So instead of taking all of the hikes we had planned on, we ended up taking the scenic drive several times. Luckily it was really pretty there, so we didn't mind driving around. We also had our picnic in the car!! It was pretty fun.

Taylor started going stir-crazy, so we all got out of the car (we actually had dressed Taylor appropriately....not to mention that we had her bundled up in a warm blanket). It was already cold, but the 20-mile hour wind made it down right freezing!! Taylor LOVED every minute of it. As soon as we started walking she just laughed and laughed. She loves cold weather so much...I'm not sure what she's going to do when it gets hot!

We finally decided to go on one little hike. I think we all (including Belle) had a great time. It was so nice getting out of the car!!

Taylor's showing her dad how good she drives!

Taylor, Belle and mommy stayed in the car while daddy was out taking pictures.

Taylor's ready for her first hike!

A pretty shot of the canyons

Another nice pic of the canyons. Too bad it wasn't clear and sunny!

Our first successful family hike!

Hiking is hard work! Notice the grass that's still in her hands....she'd cry if we tried to take it away from her, so we let her keep it!

Terrible twos.....maybe terrible 11-months!!

Oh boy. If the terrible twos are anything like the terrible 11-months, then Tyson and I are in for a real treat!! Man oh man, Taylor has been something else these past few days. It's not that she's been terrible....more like challenging. She's decided that she doesn't want to eat anything new anymore. But at the same time, she's tired of her original baby food!! So we're really having to try all sorts of things to make her happy. And when you think she likes something one minute, the very next minute she doesn't like it anymore!! Ahhhhhh!!

She's discovered that if she purses her lips together really tightly, then we can't shove food into her mouth...and hence it ends up all over her face. Then she rubs her face (which has food all over it, mind you) with both of her hands and then proceeds to touch her hair, the highchair and her clothes. Forget the bib....Taylor hates wearing bibs, so I'm constantly having to stain-treat her clothes!!

If she's not quick enough to purse her lips together, then we get the food in, but it doesn't necessarily stay in!! She either spits it out or cries the whole time it's in her mouth. After the food has been spat out, then there's a good chance that she's about to throw it!! When she's completely tired of the whole ordeal, she'll turn her face away from you and face the back of the highchair!!

And then of course, once we make it through the meal (which can last anywhere from 30-45 minutes), then there's the whole face-cleaning thing. You would think that the world was coming to an end to hear her cry like she does.

Let's see.....what else? Oh yes, the fire place mantle. Taylor is still very much obsessed with the fire place, and therefore, Tyson and I are constantly telling her NO!! She understands quite well what NO means, but she's in her "testing" phase. She likes to see how serious we are....to see how far she can go before we actually get up to move her away from the fire place.

And lastly, she's discovered toilet paper. It actually doesn't bother me as bad, so I don't make too much of a fuss about it. I just help her roll it back together!!

She's still our little love bug and we love her dearly. She's just testing her wings right now.....and so far, it seems like she's winning!!!

I hate my food now!!

I hate my bib even more!!

Trying to avoid the spoon that's in front of her.

Now she's mad...I just shoved some food in!!

And we're done here!

Aha!! Caught in the act!

"What's the big deal Mom?"

A reminder of why we love her!!

Taking care of Mimi

Taylor and I were in Dallas last week taking care of Mimi (she just had surgery) while Tyson was in Temple for some job training stuff. We had fun staying at Mimi's and Poppa's house! Taylor was such a silly little girl. She figured out that if she does something funny and gets a laugh out of it, she keeps doing it! And then she'll start laughing at us laughing at her!! It's never ending!

Every night Poppa was responsible for putting Taylor to sleep. He took his job quite seriously....there were a couple of nights when he took her back into his bedroom so that they could have some "settling down" time. Whatever they talked about, it seemed to work! Taylor fell right to sleep with little to no fussing!!

Belle and Gabby played and played. Belle was very tired when we got back to Lubbock, but she was pretty bored. I think she misses Gabby....and according to Mimi, Gabby misses Belle a whole lot.

Poppa let Taylor pull all of Mimi's catalogs off of the table....and after doing it that one time, Taylor wanted to play with the catalogs every time she sat in that chair.

Jerzy came over to help me feed and bathe Taylor. She was such a big help!

"Excuse me, you want me to what??"

Taylor liked sitting outside so she could watch Gabby and Belle play.

The only safe time to play with Gabby was when Gabby was crashed out!

Two sweet doggies! They got to be good buds!

Reading a book in a rocking chair that used to be her great-Pawpaw's when he a was a little boy.

We went to the park with the Tokarz gang. Taylor had so much fun swinging!

Taylor loved kicking her legs and swinging her arms while she was in the swing!

Taylor looks like such a big girl walking behind her lion.

Such a cute dirty load of laundry!