Taylor turning 5.... the party :)

My Little Ponies... she loves them. So this year there was only one thing she wanted, and when it's your birthday, you get what you want.... so My Little Pony was the big theme this year. :)

Food, cake, ice cream, "pin the cutie mark on Pinkie Pie", and presents... Taylor had a just a little bit of a good time :)
 The crowd...

Big kids eating....

Presents time...

My brother and I had this game growing up... loved it!

{We got her a new CD player and a bunch of books with listening CD's (we have listened to LOTS of books since her party....frequently throughout the day :))}

Pin the cutie mark on Pinkie Pie... she cheated and peaked every time ;)

The birthday cake... can't believe she blew out five candles this year

And play time with new toys plus cake... a perfect ending to the party. :)

F-i-v-e :)

Taylor is FIVE!! A full hand. A BIG kid!! And, according to Taylor, now that she is five she can "go to kindergarten". Yeah, I know kiddo. This mom has already been thinking a lot about next fall.

The picture I posted on Facebook on her birthday.... 1 day old, 1 year old, 5 years old...

Taylor's favorites at FIVE ~
Cheese sandwiches, her white blanket, coloring with markers, honey crisp apples, My Little Ponies, Disney Princesses, having an even bigger bed now, getting to go out on outings with one-on-one with us, telling Camryn what to do, water (playing in the shower, splashing in the tub enough to get the entire bathroom wet, jumping off the dock, playing on the beach, going on the boat, sprinklers), imaginary play with her little characters, reading books and listening to books on her new CD player, watching Disney movies (current favorite is Rio 2), playing outside, eating hard boiled eggs (with salt - she likes to add it herself :)), riding her bike, listening to Disney Christmas music STILL during car rides, taking all her my little ponies to her preschool class in her my little pony backpack, toast, her best friend Ty, fruit snacks, balloons, the color pink

Dislikes ~
Naps, being rushed, being told what to do (giving her 'choices' are key), dressing herself, blood (she is terrified of it, and if she even THINKS she or someone else has an injury that might be bleeding she will run to her room as fast as possible), having her hair brushed or anything done to it, peanut butter or anything with nuts

Five things we LOVE about Taylor right now...

1. Seeing how much she is growing as a learner...writing her name and letters in general, counting, picking up some familiar words. I gave Taylor the kindergarten screener, and I LOVED seeing how she did!

2. That she has developed such a better sleeping routine at night in the past 6 months. She hasn't come into our room in the middle of the night in a couple months and she goes down at 8pm when Camryn does.  In fact, I can't remember the last time we were up in the night with either girl. So thankful for good sleepers.

3. The independent play. She can pretty much take anything - pieces to a board game, toys from the top of her birthday cake, playdoh, and of course any toys she has, and turn it into an imaginary scenario. She also will engage with Camryn and they will pretend it is bedtime together, or play with the dollhouse with the new 'mom' and 'dad' figurines, or play with their babies together. It is fun that they relate together so much more as they get older. Sisters. :) It's pretty fun to watch their relationship grow.

4. That she loves books. I am hopeful that this will make her student years easier and more fun if she continues to love to read. :)

5. And last, that she is strong-willed. Sometimes this seems like such a stressful thing, and is not easy as a parent, but she is confident and I love that about her.

Five things we HOPE for Taylor in the next year...

1. That she LOVES her kindergarten teacher!

2. That she finds wonderful new little friends in her new school!

3. That she continues to be a healthy little girl...can never take this for granted. :)

4. She will start reading books to me! :)

5. Lots of smiles and happiness and laughter!

(Someone was pretty happy about finally getting all her candles blown out ;))

Happy Happy Birthday, Taylor!!

Wrapping up January

Taylor's 5th birthday is almost here, and before I get to writing about our soon to be FIVE year old, I wanted to make sure to wrap up January. Random collection of pictures, as always, but little moments to be remembered. :)

We had a couple snow days in January, and the girls came with me to my school one of the days. They LOVE to play in my room (aka make a mess :)), but it is fun to have them there with me sometimes. :)

Tay was a big fan of the tinker toys this time around...

Sisters :)

As we are approaching what feels like a pretty significant birthday, Taylor has seemed quite a bit more grown up lately.
I took these pictures of her getting to eat cookie dough off the beater for the first time, and it struck me how big she looked!

One night playing Sequence, Taylor actually beat me and Ryan. :) She was pretty excited.

This year she also signed all of her own Valentine cards for her friends.

And I brought home my district's kindergarten screener that I give to incoming students every year, just to see how she would do, and it was fun to go through it with her. Also, as I was giving her the test, it was becoming more real to me that she will be a kindergartner this fall!!!! (She did well, by the way. :))

Speaking of kindergarten, I went in to officially register her, and she got to have this little goody bag. She was very excited about the pencil, new book, and Zeeland sticker... that she put on her shirt. :) 

Taylor is also quite a puzzle kid. She is putting together 100 piece puzzles on her own right now. :)

We can't forget about little Cam, too. Although she does NOT like to be called little right now. She wants everyone to know she is a big kid. :)
I am soaking in the fact the fact that she is at an age where she still wants to just sit and snuggle with me on the couch. :) {love}

And Cam likes to practice her own letters, too. (She would want me to say that she looks like a big kid, but I kind of love her little chubby toddler cheeks still and little sweet nose.

And to end with a picture that shows a different side of her, she can also be completely full of personality and be quite a silly girl. Captured moments before a mommy tackle. :)

Trip to Shedd Aquarium

We took advantage of a Friday where we didn't have school, and planned a trip to Shedd with Mem!

Last time we went, Camryn wasn't even a year old, so she was really experiencing it for the first time. We kept the day simple, and just planned a day trip. Luckily the weather cooperated and it made for an easy drive there and back! Ryan did a great job getting us down and back, especially on a not much sleep. He and I will probably partly remember this day because we spent a couple hours the night before in the ER. Everything was okay, but I had to take along some extra muscle relaxers and pain killers with me for the trip, and we may have looked a little more tired in pictures. :)

Driving down (thoroughly enjoying our McD's coffee :)) my cozy spot between the two little ladies in the back. 

Right when we arrived, the girls loved looking at the map of the aquarium

The big center tank was the first thing they were drawn to... love the look on their faces :)

Lots of fun moments throughout the day

Taylor was very excited to see jellyfish

Watching the penguins swim :)

Cam touching a huge sea star

Waiting for the aquatic show to start

And on the way home....the girls completely cashed out (and I might have, too :))
 Tay holding onto her new stuffed animal "fluffy" the baby beluga whale

 And Cam sleeping on "Dory" her new sea turtle

It was a great day! And we already talked about our next visit and taking the girls to see some of the other sights of Chicago. :)