Some Christmas Pics

Here are some pictures from Christmas in Grand Bay from last Saturday and some from Christmas Eve and Christmas morning. Hover your mouse over the picture to see the caption and enjoy!

Like Mother Like Daughter

If you know me well, you know I love presents...and peeking into them before I'm supposed to open them :) I was, and still am, notorious for wanting to open Christmas presents early. And when I was little I usually peeked into (or totally unwrapped then rewrapped) my presents before Christmas morning. Well, it seems that Taylor has inherited this wonderful trait. Earlier in the week I heard the sound of paper tearing and walked over to the tree where Taylor was to find her tearing into her gift from Aunt Lisa and Uncle Erik. So I told her "no" and started to move her away from it, but I just had to get a picture and a video of her first. The wrapping paper was ripped from being shipped from Florida, so I guess the temptation proved to be too much.

"All Done"

First let me say, "No I'm not pregnant, nor do I want to be right now." Ok, now I can proceed with my story. Nick and I were talking about babies and big families, etc. and Taylor chimed in with her opinion. She basically told us that she wants to be an only child when she said, "All done." Nick and I immediately cracked up. Too bad for Taylor she doesn't get a vote. Not to mention we know we want more than one.

Feliz Navidad!

Merry Christmas, everyone! We hope y'all had a wonderful day! We did and will post pictures soon...I promise. It was is the low 70's here but we didn't let that get us down. Nick built a fire this morning anyway. Yep, I said Nick built a fire. And the AC was running in the background. It made for some nice pictures, though. We had a nice morning, opening presents and taking pictures of Taylor. Then we had Robyn's mom and stepdad over for a big lunch and everything was soooo good. That was my first time to host a big meal and I think it went quite well. I think that accidentally leaving the butter out of the pecan pie was the only mistake (and no one even knew it - I just realized it awhile after they left when I opened the microwave and found the dish of melted butter.) Then it was naptime for Taylor and mommy and daddy. Robyn's dad and stepmom stopped by for a quick visit on their way back in town. And we wrapped up the night by driving around looking at Christmas lights! Taylor loved the lights and kept pointing at them while saying her version of "lights" everytime she saw them. We had a great time riding around being a happy little family.

CONGRATULATIONS, NICK!!!

I just wanna give a shout out to my hard-working, smarty-pants husband who passed the PHR (Professional in Human Resources) Certification Test this past Saturday! Yay Nick! He's been studying hard since September and read a total of about 1300 pages, six books in all. Yesterday, he said, "I could never go to medical school." He'll get his official score in a few weeks, but for now all he knows is that he passed and he's thrilled!!! Way to go, Nick! I'm proud of you!

New Orleans Bowl

We went to the New Orleans Bowl Sunday night and saw a good football game and a lot of old friends. We had a great time and since we left Taylor at home with Robyn's dad, we felt like a couple of young college kids again. Unfortunately Troy lost the game in OT though. Since just about every post that we've made lately has had pictures, I won't stop the trend.

Front row. That's how we roll.

No need to call the replay booth--it was a touchdown

New Friend

Taylor made a new friend while we were in Birmingham a few weeks ago. Nick and I got to have a short but sweet visit with Trey and Joy, some friends from college, and their precious little girl, Ella Joy. She will be 2 in February and is just cute as can be! They didn't really play "together" that much but I think they had fun regardless. And Taylor quickly became fond of Joy...it's amazing what some goldfish crackers can do. :)

Sorry!

Sorry my posts have been so few and far between lately. I hope to do better. Here are a few pictures of Taylor "coloring". One day last week I decided to give her some crayons (supervised, of course) and see what she'd do. She liked them, but not really for coloring. More for putting in her mouth, playing with, putting back in the box after dumping them all out, etc. We colored a picture for Daddy and put it on the fridge for him to see when he got home from work. He loved it!

Back home

We had a great time on our vacation in B'ham and St. Pete but we are glad to be home. Taylor is especially glad to be home because our vacation threw her sleep schedule all out of whack. But she's napping pretty good again now that we're home. We'll post more pictures and a better update later, but for now here's a slideshow of pictures from Taylor's first trip to the beach.

p.s. say a prayer for Tay Tay. she's got a bad diaper rash.

Vacation!

Today is the first day of our vacation. We'll leave for B'ham after lunch today and will stay with our friends Ben & Katie. We're going to B'ham because we have a wedding to go to tomorrow and will stay up there because flights are sooo much cheaper out of there than Mobile. We're glad to be going up there so that we can see some friends that we haven't seen in a while. We flight out of B'ham on Monday morning and will be in St. Pete until Saturday. We're excited to see Nick's family--especially his grandma, aunt & uncle and cousins who have never met Taylor. We're looking forward to a fun and relaxing time down there. The only part of the trip that makes us nervous is the plane ride because we don't want to be the parents who get dirty looks because their child is screaming. So be praying that Tay Tay does fine and that her ears do alright with the air pressure changes!

I'm Playing Catch-Up

I just had a posting marathon, so scroll down and enjoy the new posts! Sorry for my absence :)

Very Belated Pumpkin Patch Pictures

It's been several weeks since we took Taylor to the Pumpkin Patch, but I'm just now getting around to posting the pictures. What can I say?

A Few Cute Ones

Here are a few cute pictures that were taken recently. In the first one, she's just being silly...one of the things she does best. And she loves to find spoons and pretend to stir them in anything that even remotely resembles a bowl or cup. Not sure about the second one, I just think it's funny. And in the last one, she's proud of herself for climbing on top of the bin. She is such a climber and climbs on anything she can.

Miss Fussy Face

I love books!!!

We're not sure where Taylor gets her love for books because neither Nick nor I are big readers. I wish I was and there have been 3 books that I can think of that I just about could not put down. But generally in my free time I don't choose to read. Anyway, back to Taylor. She loves books and I'm so glad. I hope it's a love that stays with her.

What Do You Think?

What does it look like Tay is doing in this picture? Take a guess and leave a comment.

Happy Halloween

Uh-oh!

Taylor has had quite a few playdates with boys lately. Three different boys I might add. Should I be concerned? :)

Hudson, Ollie and Gabe are their names. Cute, huh?! Hudson's parents are friends of ours from college/Campus Outreach, and we currently go to church together. They live about 5 minutes away so I anticipate frequent playdates...arranged marriage, anyone? Hudson was over again yesterday and they had a blast playing the piano. I have known Ollie's parents since I was in elementary school and we went to church, youth group, and high school together. And my mom taught Ollie's dad in preschool - how funny! Ollie's mom kept Taylor on Monday mornings for 9 months while I went to work. Gabe is the son of one of my sorority sisters/roommates in college. They don't live here but we were able to visit with them the last two times they were in town.

Pig Tails = Big Girl

Doesn't Taylor look like such a big girl with pig tails?! She was being so silly during her photo shoot. Her hair has grown so much, but I don't realize it until I look at old pictures or see it during bathtime.

Good to the Last Drop

Taylor loves YoBaby yogurt. Absolutely loves it! Vanilla, banana, blueberry, apple, you name it she loves every flavor. She works hard to get every last drop!

Quote of the Day

This is what Nick just said to me...

"What are you gonna get me for Boss's Day?"

In case you're wondering, yes, he was joking.

Happy Birthday Streed and Ella

This past Saturday we went to Hammond for Streed and Ella's birthday party. Shelley decided to do a joint party since their birthdays are less than a month apart and I don't think the kids minded at all. There is definately no gender confusion with those two. Streed got lots of boy stuff and loved all of it - swords, batman and spiderman costumes, nerf ball gun, etc.; and Ella got lots of girly stuff - princessy dress-up clothes, tea sets, high heeled dress up shoes, purse, play make-up, etc. Everyone seemed to have fun and it was good to see some family that we don't see that often.

Miss Independent

I think I made a mistake. Last week I started trying to teach Taylor how to feed herself with utensils. And now, that's all she wants to do. She rarely wants my help and sometimes if I don't give her the spoon she freaks out. She wants to do it by herself, and as a result mealtime is much slower and messier and more food is wasted. What have I done?! Can I go back in time?
To see the captions, place cursor over pictures.

New Words

Taylor has been adding some new words to her growing vocabulary over the past several days. A few nights ago when I laid her down in her crib and told her goodnight she said, "Night, night. Night, night. Night, night." And she has said it several times since then. Saturday as I was at Paint and Pals Nick got her to say "Love you." And as of today she's been saying "No" and sometimes repeats it several times. Right now she's not directing it at anything, but seems to be enjoying saying a new word. She is so funny and so much fun! She's also gotten very squeally (when she's excited or playing) and continues to be loud at times. As for the walking, she continues to improve. Nick counted her taking 22 steps on Saturday at one time, then later she walked all the way across the den without falling. Yay! I'll post pictures of my art from the other day at Paint and Pals.

No More Bottle

For about a week or so Taylor has been officially drinking only from a sippy cup. No more bottle! She is 14 months today so it's about time. For the past month or so she would drink from the bottle in the morning and then occasionally at lunch and dinner during those times when she would act like she didn't know how to drink from a sippy cup. :) And if you're wondering which one she uses out of the plethora of sippy cups...Gerber. But thanks for the suggestions, everyone.

A few random snapshots

HAPPY FIRST DAY OF FALL!

Yay! It's the first day of Fall! Not that it necessarily feels like it here in Mobile. But I'm still excited! Thanks to the internet for this lovely picture. I wish I could say that I took it, and I know Nick wishes that we lived in a place that looks like that this time of year.

Learning to walk

Taylor took her first steps a few weeks ago, but up until a couple days ago was never really interested in walking as a mode of transportation. She knew that she could get to where she wants to go by crawling and that was all there was to it. But since Thursday she has really started to walk more often. In fact she took about 10 steps a few times today. She gets a little camera shy when we bring out the video camera, but after some coaxing we got her to take a few steps.

Mmmmm

We're a day late making this post but we thought we'd share a fun tradition with you--we call it Saturday Morning Fun Breakfast. This happens practically every Saturday and usually involves cinnamon rolls or bacon and eggs or some other kind of good breakfast that we never eat during the week. Not much else to say, just wanted to let you in on our tradition.