Final days of February

February seemed like a busy month - a good month - but LOTS went on! Planned and celebrated Taylor's 2nd birthday, continued getting things set for my maternity leave, more frequent doctor appointments, beginning swim lessons for Tay, cold winter weather - even a snow day (yay!), warm SPRING-like weather, and now we are less than two months from meeting little girl #2!

A few random pictures from fun February moments...

First up - GLOW STICKS! Taylor got these for a birthday gift, and it made bath time SO much fun! Let's just say that she was in the tub over an hour until the water was cool and her fingers were like little prunes :o)

(So difficult to take pictures in a dark bathroom with the only light from the tiny toys,  so please excuse the blurriness :))

Second pic - favorite afternoon snack - POPCORN! Not the packaged microwave kind either...SO tasty! (We were watching a little bit of the movie Bambi in this picture - Taylor loved all the little animals)

Third - our little gift to Taylor for Valentine's day - a heart balloon - simple, but she LOVED it!

Fourth - walking around in mama's shoes, too cute :o) (and doing her favorite activity while I get dinner ready - pulling out place mats and making a trail with them :))

Fifth - Taylor's love for reading books has not diminished at all - she will sit and want to be read to for a half hour or more at a time

Last - today, LEAP day, and it was 59 degrees and sunny this afternoon! Gorgeous day outside!

A little bright

A little windy, too :)

But we could hear birds chirping!

So much fun!

(But all our fun ended with a sidewalk crash, two scraped knees, and a little tenderhearted child who was done playing and just wanted to snuggle with her favorite blankie.)

It was a little sad, too, because usually with little spills or tumbles, she asks for a little kiss from mama or dada to "make it all better", and then takes off playing again - but this time it is like she realized that a little kiss can't take the pain away from scraped hands and bloody knees...awww....sometimes this little girl is just FULL of drama! :o))

Oh and I have to mention some of our favorite new words (that come out DAILY) that Taylor is using....

"Okay"
"What you doing"
"Again"
"Down" (when she wants to go downstairs - we hear it every evening!)

 and counting and numbers! She recognizes the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4 and 9...so fun to be looking at letters and numbers with her already :)

Looking forward to a new month with more fun - bring on March!

Cereal lovin'

I love cereal. I could eat it as a part of each meal, for snacks, for dessert...yum, yum. :o) My hometown is the 'cereal capital of the world', myself - as well as many of my friends - were dubbed "Kellogg's kids" because either our mom or dad worked for the company, and Ry and I actually started dating right after we spent some time together at the 'world's longest breakfast table' one summer :o). Ha!

It is no surprise that Taylor loves cereal, too. :o)

And here's the evidence....
A spoon is too slow, fingers work better 

Don't mind the spacey look - this was after swim lessons one evening, and our little lady was tuckered out! :o)

 

Gotta get every last drop! :o)

Complete with a milk mustache :o)

32 week update

These appointments every two weeks seem to come up quickly! We have appointments set out to 37 weeks - which seems SO close to the end, and I am sure the time will continue to fly!

Our doctor visit today went great as usual. Baby girl's heart rate was 145-150bpm, and for now she seems generally head down still. Keeping really well hydrated is the only thing I need to work on - as there was one really, really uncomfortable day this past week that had me going so far as to track how many contractions I was feeling for a couple hours. I learned to never underestimate the power of water. :o) It is tough to drink a lot while at work because I can't just run to the bathroom whenever I want, but so far my students have been well behaved if I have to duck out quickly here and there.

Comparison time!

Here is a picture of me at 32 weeks when I was pregnant with Taylor....(a lot more blond!)

And here is a baby girl #2 at 32 weeks...

Hopefully everything will continue to go just as smoothly for the next 8 weeks or so, as it has gone so far. So thankful for a healthy, easy, (well - as easy as it can be ;)), pregnancy!

Taylor turns TWO!

(Meant to be posted last night :o))

"Did you hear?"

"Oh my goodness!"

"Someone is TWO!!"

Happy, happy 2nd Birthday, little lady!

Last night when Ryan and I were headed to bed, we were talking about the fact that two years earlier we were only hours away from meeting Taylor for the first time. There are certain parts of that day that have become more fuzzy, and other things are still so vivid in my memory that it feels like it was just yesterday. I don't remember what the last push was like, but I remember the moment she was put in my arms for the first time. I don't really recall how tired we were (she was born at 3:01am after being induced 20 hours earlier), but I remember the feeling of overwhelming love - as well as other emotions - that I was suddenly struck with in the hours and days after her birth. It is hard to recall how tiny Taylor was - I look at pictures and can hardly believe how much she has grown into more of a little kid since then. It is strange to think about what it was like before she was mobile and could crawl or walk.

It is amazing to think that we are about to start that journey over again. :o)

As Taylor has grown up, she has become more than we could ever hope for. She is inquisitive, strong-willed, sensitive (big heart with even bigger emotions), not a huge risk-taker (but willing to try new things with the right encouragement and support), a wonderful snuggle buddy, and knows how to melt her momma and daddy's heart.

Part of me feels that I have grown more than Taylor since she came into our lives. Being a parent is an amazing responsibility. Difficult. Rewarding. Challenging. Awesome. Can hardly imagine what having two children will feel or be like. And I am sure, as I found with Taylor, that nothing will truly give us a sense of what it is like until we experience it ourselves.

The past two years has been an adventure, to say the least. Taylor, at 2 years old, here are a few things I want to remember about you at this stage...

** Sleeping in a regular bed now - going to bed between 7:00-7:30pm and then up somewhere around 6:45-8am (depending on if it is the weekend or a weekday). You only nap once a day - for about 2 hours (usually less) - going down around 12:30 and up anywhere between 2:00-3:00.

** Wearing size 5 diapers, 3t-4t tops and 24 month bottoms - it will be interesting to find out your weight and height at your well-child check-up in a couple weeks

** Bottom teeth eye teeth are finally coming in, but still waiting on the top ones

** Counting is your new favorite thing - but you ALWAYS skip 7 when counting to 10. It is the only number that is two-syllables... could be the reason?

** You love finding the mouse on each page in "Goodnight Moon", reading about the animals in the "Big Red Barn", and pointing out and labeling pictures in lots of other books.

** You love having LOTS of stuffed animals and blankets on your bed. Your favorites are your white blanket (silky on one side, and fuzzy on the other), "Tony" (a combination blanket and tiger stuffed animal), and "oo-oo, ah-ah" - (your little monkey).

** When dada wakes you up in the morning, sometimes you are happy and sweet, and other times we can tell that you really would like a little longer to snuggle in bed :o)

** When you hear something new or of interest - such as an airplane flying overhead or a siren going by - you stop and say "oh!" and point to your ear

** You have settled into your daycare routine so well over the past month (we had some weeks where you had a harder time with the drop-offs) - helping get your things put away when we arrive, sitting down for breakfast like a big kid at the table, and giving me kisses goodbye without a single tear :o)

** Some of your favorites - whales, Dora, bath time, books, walks, running in the basement, cheese and fruit (if these were the only two food groups, you would be a happy camper!), laying with both me and dada on the bed for before bed snuggles, drinking water from mommy's cup (with a bendy straw of course), kicking and splashing in the bathtub or pool (yay for swim lessons!)

** And lastly - you are starting to move away from needing your pacifier! You went to bed 4 nights in a row this week without it - and this was not planned! :o) Yay!

Enjoying your free birthday cookie at Barnes and Noble :o)

And because I didn't get this posted until a day later - a few pictures from after her afternoon nap today - playtime with new toys, and of course - balloons!

Celebrating TWO years! :o)

 So, what kind of party do you have for a little two year old who loves whales and fish??

An "Under the Sea" birthday celebration!!

We had fun decorating the basement the night before... Little banner I made for Taylor.... "Happy 2nd Birthday, Taylor"

Planned food around an "ocean" theme...

And no birthday party is complete without cake!

 

Taylor opened many fun gifts. She would help open each card, and play with each gift for a bit, then be ready for the next!

Sporting new sunglasses from her Dora gift...

Aunt Liz made a very creative, cute gift (she is so talented and I love that we can benefit from her craftiness :o)) and we have some homemade art work to hang on the wall downstairs now!

Taylor now has her own laptop and Cozy Coupe! And she decided that she wanted to take her laptop with her while she drove her new car - ha!

And we decided that our little girl who loves to jump would like a trampoline! Jump, jump, jump!!

 

Loved singing "Happy Birthday" to her, and Ryan and I helped blow out her two little candles....my wish for her being another happy, healthy, fun year together!

Happy, Happy Birthday, Taylor Leigh!! :o)