And so it begins!

There are many, many wonderful things about being a teacher. One of them is certainly the chance to have extra time off around the holidays - and so begins the holiday break until the new year!

It did not, however, start as we would have liked. Taylor spiked her first high fever and has her first ear infection. Other than being sick once during the summer, this is only the second time we have had to take her to the doctor because she doesn't feel well - and I am grateful for that. Taylor's "aunt" Liz and uncle Chris came to take care of Taylor while Ryan and I both had to work Friday morning. It was very hard to leave her when she wasn't feeling well, but we knew she would be in good hands, and was being cozily snuggled by Liz when we got home. Hopefully after 10 days of antibiotics (Amoxicillin - just the smell of that pink stuff brought back memories of when I was a kid!), some eardrops, and children's motrin, Taylor will be back to herself soon! She was already looking better this morning, but is still really sleepy - and has only been awake for about a half hour so far this morning.

A sad picture of our little girl - feeling miserable..

Rocking and reading with daddy...

Snuggles with grandma mem

After we got Taylor all her medicine, we tucked our sleepy girl into her car seat, and headed to my parent's house for a short visit and some Christmas cookie baking. One of my favorite holiday traditions is baking Christmas cookies with my mom - all the mixing, shaping, cookie cutting, icing, powder sugar dusting, and sprinkling is something I can remember doing lots of years just before Christmas. Next year, maybe Taylor will be able to help with the sprinkling and decorating, this year she just played with the cookie cutters. :-) 

Dad helping out with the sprinkling, while grandma mem played with Taylor in the living room

Speedo found his favorite spot to watch all the action...

Less than a week until Christmas!! :-D

Santa (and other fun December things)

We went to visit Santa this week - and Taylor did exactly as we had expected. :-)  When in unfamiliar situations, her most common response is to become very quiet, and simply watch what is going on around her. When she had her "school" pictures taken at daycare, she simply sat and stared, with a few little grins, and her visit with Santa was quite the same! We managed to capture a few little smiles, but her eyebrows gave away her slight uncertainty about this man with a white beard.

Getting ready to leave...

Sitting on Santa's lap! (I wonder, if Taylor could talk, what she would wish for this Christmas... :-))

It was a fun weekday outing!! :-)

December has been rather busy so far on the weekends. Last weekend we had a special visitor on Friday night! My grandpa flew up from the warm south to visit us in the cold north for a few days. My parents and uncle came up to visit as well!

Taylor did really well during our dinner out together - of course she will sit almost anywhere when there are yummy sweet potato puffs involved! :-)

We also celebrated graduation on Saturday - "uncle" Chris and "aunt" Liz graduated from college, and Taylor and I joined the crowd for dinner out afterward.

At this stage she seems to be doing really well with eating out! She has finally taken to a high chair a bit better (when she was younger, she wanted NOTHING to do with being strapped in a high chair). So excited!

And lastly, the big news in the Slagh household this week was Ryan's completion of his master's degree! I am very proud of him for being so dedicated and making it through all his classes! It was all online, so he had to be very self-motivated. Good job, Ry!!
For celebration, we got together with some friends for a surprise dinner out. :-)

Ten days until Christmas!! :-D

Sweatshirt, snow, and a little sweetie pie...

Did you know that there are only 19 (well really almost 18) days until Christmas?!! I LOVE this time of the year!! 
 A few random pictures to share...

First, I finally bought Taylor a little Gap sweatshirt.  There is nothing that I love more than a comfy hooded sweatshirt, and really wanted to get Taylor a little Gap one.
Here is my attempt to take her picture with it on - it is getting harder and harder to take a picture of her because she always wants to move (especially towards something fun to grab - like a camera :-)).

Silly girl...

Trying to get her to stand in one place... and if Taylor had words, I feel like she would be saying, "what mom? I just want to see the camera for a second..." :-)

Second, we are getting buried in snow right now!! If this is an indication of our winter season, we are in for a lot of the white stuff! News reports say 11.5 inches so far, but we definitely have much more than that in our yard/driveway!
The Christmas lights are completely covered in some areas

No snow blowers are used at this house... :-)

And lastly, my mom passed along a few dresses that I wore when I was little, and we tried one of the little ones on Taylor last night...little sweetie...

Max is checking things out from behind :-)

And here is a picture my mom sent me - wearing the same little dress (almost 30 years ago!)

December is going fast!!

Playdates, parades, and other pictures

First, I am so excited we turned the calendar to December today, and that there is SNOW on the ground!!

I had to take Taylor outside for a few moments, just to capture her first real experience with snow. It was snowing when she was born, but the only thing she really cared about in February was sleeping and eating! Now we have entered the fun stage of PLAYING. :-D

Her first reaction to the white stuff flying in the air (as well as getting to experience how COLD snow can be to the touch!)

She seemed quite excited about this white fluffy stuff... when she is older it will be so much fun to take her sledding and skiing up north!!

The flurries actually started last night, perfect timing for the holiday lights parade downtown. It was C-O-L-D, but still a fun event!
 

A rare picture with little ones AND parents all together! :-D

Taylor also got to hang out with her buddy Brady on Monday - twice in one week! I couldn't help but to post these pictures of them playing - so cute!

Now that December is here, we can have fun wearing holiday things for a while!
In her little "always Jolly" shirt

 

She wore this shirt while we were visiting my parents, and I thought my mom and Taylor looked quite festive!

And, one last thing, Taylor is now pulling herself up to stand on her feet - and likes to show off this skill a lot!

December is going to be a FUN month!!