Must Love Dogs

Everyone knows how much Taylor absolutely loves dogs.  Even our friend, Karen (hi Karen!) thought of Taylor when she read in the newspaper about the dog show in town this weekend.  She emailed me the article, so we decided to take Taylor to see it.  

In the article it said on Saturday there was supposed to be 2400 dogs there.  2400 dogs?!  Wowsers.  It also mentioned that strollers were not allowed.  Uh oh.  We thought, how are we going to keep this rambunctious, dog-crazed kid contained if we don't have a stroller?  We also didn't know how the dog owners would be with a 1 year old tearing after their dog.  I mean, lets face it dog shows are their 'Super Bowl', it's their 'thing'. We decided to go ahead and try it because we know she would simply love it, knowing it could backfire in our face.  

We started off looking at the, as JT called them, big furry dogs.

We watched them prance around the pin.  I honestly don't know what makes a dog a good 'show dog'.  Sidenote:  I think it's so bizarre how they have dog shows on ESPN...it is really a sport?!   Anyways, here is a short video I got of her 'ooooh-ing' at the big furry dogs.  

Taylor, look at those dogs!!!

OOOOooooooh!!!

We mostly walked around after that, well, I mean chased after Taylor - which was a job!   We found a spot that was called 'meet the breed' where every hour was a different breed on display.  Come to find out, the dog owners were very excited to show them off and didn't mind at all if Taylor wanted to pet them.  I guess this is their time to show them off to other people...or 15 month olds.  

They were all very well behaved dogs, I guess they have to be.  Even though I didn't have a clue what was going on at the dog show, and we really didn't stay very long (chasing after Taylor was exhausting) we are glad we went because Taylor had such a good time.

29

Yesterday was my 29th birthday.  Sigh.  I am knockin' on 30's door!  That sounds so crazy to say it out loud, 'I am almost 30!'  Oh well.

I had a GREAT birthday!  It started on Sunday evening when we went to my parents house for my Dad's famous shish kabobs!  I love them and always ask for them on my birthday.  The weather, however, was not condusive to grilling though, it was in the 30's and very windy.  Nothing the 'grillmaster' can't handle though, he just moved it under the patio

while Taylor and I watched from the comforts of indoors.

Doesn't it look delicious!  

Taylor played around and had a great time like she always does at Nana and Grandpa's

I guess I need to explain this picture...and her outfit!  The skirt she wore to church that morning, but with tights instead of these pants.  I wanted her to wear the skirt to dinner, because I think it's really cute but didn't want to mess with tights and diaper changes for the rest of the afternoon/evening.  So we just put pants on her with the skirt over top - much easier to deal with pants than tights with a very active/squirmy 1 year old.  And the bib, I had just fed her some of her dinner before the kabobs were ready.  AND the crazy basket/hat on her head!  Taylor loves to dig in the kitchen cabinets, well she found this and put it on her head!  Silly girl.  This picture just makes me laugh, the outfit, the hat, everything! 

All of this was going on while JT was taking a nap.  He can sleep anywhere.

I wore my '29' sweatshirt to honor the day!  

A family picture

And here we are last year celebrating my birthday - it was a lot warmer that day!

One of me and sweet Taylor.  I just love this picture because of her sweet smile.  I don't have many pictures of just me and her, especially with her smiling - I am always the one with the camera!  And I think we look alike.

On my actual birthday, I went out to lunch just my mom and I and later that night Taylor had a sleepover at Nana and Grandpa's house!  JT and I went out and had a nice dinner together just the two of us.  It was nice to get out, have uninterrupted conversation, and just enjoy each other's company....but boy, did we miss Taylor!  We came home to an empty, albeit quiet, house. it felt strange.  Not strange enough to go pick her up...but still strange.  She had a great time at her sleepover - thanks Nana and Grandpa for the night out!  

29 is my favorite number, was even my softball number in college so I just know this is going to be a great year.

Feast or Famine

I always either feel like I have a ton of stuff I want to blog about and try and stretch it out over a week or so, or I feel like I don't have really anything noteworthy to say.  The latter is true right now.

I guess I haven't taken many pictures that are 'blog worthy' over the past week and I don't like to blog without pictures of sweet Taylor!  As I posted about last week, all she wants is the camera when I get it out so I don't get a picture at all!  Needless to say, it has stayed in my purse for the last week.  

Hendrix and Taylor did take a wagon ride down to the park one day last week, or the week before, I can't remember.  

They had a fun time, and Taylor even shared her Cheerios

Some pictures from the park 

Later that night we met up with our friends Cody, Tara, Mari, Dustin and of course, Clark at The Olive Garden.  It was good to see them as we haven't gotten together in awhile.  

Mari had forgotten a bib for Clark but had a bandana from a birthday party that was a party favor.  

And voila!  Instant bib and oh-so-cute!  

I have to mention that Mari cut Clark's hair and did an awesome job!  Apparently, I am a horrible baby barber.  Oh well.  If you missed that post, and be glad you did because it's awful, click here

15 Months

I don't know how long I will continue these monthly updates, but I am not going to stop now!  

Taylor is learning so much, so quickly.  We feel that she is on the brink of a vocabulary explosion, she is so close to speaking English - but for now we call it 'Taylorish'.  She will jabber away, nothing that we can understand, but it's like she is talking in full sentences.  She has only a few words that she only uses occasionally:  ball, hi, kitty, cheese, dog, dada, mama - but she has really only said most of these a few times (except Dada).  And I swear sometimes she sounds Russian.

Here is her latest favorite game.  Sorry for the sun, we were in the car which I thought would be good since she can chase me with the camera!  

Peek-a-boo!  

She loves this game and will do it anytime we say it.  It's too funny.

Lately she cannot get enough of her swing outside.  She will cry until we put her in it, and will cry when we take her out - even if she's been in it for 30 minutes!  She really can't get enough.

We have entered the dreaded temper tantrum phase, but luckily it hasn't been too bad...yet.  She will only do it when she doesn't get what she wants, and only lasts maybe a minute.  We just ignore it, and try not to give her attention so she will get over it and move on and to show her that kind of behavior doesn't work to get what she wants.  So far, it seems to be working.  

Eating is still difficult, except at breakfast - she eats a ton in the morning.  Lunch and dinner are usually filled with whining to be put down, she would rather run around and play than eat.  That is, except for if there is dessert around.  Man, does she go bonkers for sugar!  She would eat a whole piece of pie if I let her!  And chips.  If there are chips on the table she will not eat anything else and will throw a fit if she doesn't get any.  Which makes us eat healthier, no chips or dessert for us if Taylor is at the table!  

This should help explain what mealtime is like for us

Fun, right?

I made tacos that night, notice the pieces of taco shells - she whined until we gave her some.  Crazy girl. But, she eat the heck out of some refried beans that night!  

Sleeping is still going good, she goes to bed around 8 pm and gets up between 7 - 8 am.  We are in the process of transitioning to one nap, just depends on what time she gets up in the morning.  If she gets up super early, that's a 2 nap day then.  

She understands almost everything I tell/ask her.  Like, go get a book and lets read, go get your shoes, where is the ball?, go find Daddy, lets take a bath, look at the dog, etc.  It's going to be awesome but also weird for her to start talking back when I say something!  It's been a one-sided conversation for 15 months, it will be an adjustment for both of us when she starts talking!

Here is her 15 month picture.  Not a very good one, but you get what you get with her these days!  

She is learning something new everyday!  It is so fun to watch and be a part of everything.  She makes us laugh each and every day, we are so blessed to have her in our lives!  We love, love, love our sweet Taylor.

Behind Closed Doors

Taylor enjoys closing (sometimes slamming) and opening doors - and is currently trying to figure out how to turn the doorknob.  Yay.  (please sense my sarcasm)

She frequently will go into her room and close the door, locking herself in.  I decided to play a little game with her underneath the door, where there is surprisingly a lot of space.

How cute is that?!  

It's kind of hard to see, but that is her head close to the floor looking at me from under the door.  So fun!

Her latest fascination is the camera.  She loves/demands to look at the screen on the back, which means I don't get to take a lot of pictures anymore.  Now, I have to go into one room to which she will run to get me (or the camera) and that is when I have to quickly snap the picture.   That's what I had to do to get this shot in her Texas Rangers gear.

And this one, in her St. Patrick's Day/We Want Spring shirt.

Which results in a lot of pictures that look like this

Crazy kid.  

She is very curious about everything, which means she is learning and soaking up everything she can - and so are we.

But, this too shall pass and she will, hopefully, let me continue my obsession with snapping pictures of her.  

Balls!

I have mentioned before that Taylor loves to play with balls.  My friend, Rachel, sent her 100 balls that you find in ballpits at various kid places.  My original idea was to make a ballpit for her out of the pack n play, but she never really liked it.  Again, she doesn't like to be confined - even if surrounded by 100 brightly colored balls.

So, I put the balls away.  Meaning I put them back in the mesh bag they came in, and put them behind the glider in her room.  

Well, sure enough she has now found them and will drag them out and whine for someone to unzip the bag.

And this is what she does

Vigorously shakes the bag and dumps them all out, sending some of them flying.  She isn't satisfied with just a few of them out, oh no, it must be all 100.  Give or take 5 or 6, those have been dispersed throughout the house.  

Notice at the end her potty.  No I am not potty training her yet, just want to have it when we are both ready.  She demands to be in the bathroom with me when I, ahem, potty so I figure why not get one for her.  She understands the word potty and where hers is, but that's about as far as we have gotten.  And as you can see, her main interest is taking it apart.  

Anyways, back to the balls.  Once she gets them all out, plays with them (meaning throws them everywhere) and we tell her it's time to put the balls away she helps by putting them back in the bag.  Pretty impressive.  I know she learned it from The Little Gym where they play with balls, then put them away at the end of class.  She has done so well helping in class and at home with putting things away, even helping with emptying the dishwasher (we know that won't last forever).  We are so proud!  

Now if we can only get her to fold and put away the laundry.

Bon Appetit!

Taylor has never liked being in her high chair - or anywhere where she is strapped down.   That makes mealtimes difficult with lots of whining, squirming and tears.

Just recently she has wanted to feed herself and has gotten quite good at it in a short time.  I let her do it if it's something with a pretty thick consistency (oatmeal, yogurt, mashed potatoes) that will stick to the spoon.  And when this happens there is no whining or crying!  At least not so far.  

She is such an independent little girl!  Has no trouble running away from us at the park or elsewhere, started crawling and walking super early, and desperately wants to fed herself.  I am sure her thought is, 'I can do it myself, Mommy!'.  She needs little to no coaxing on just about anything.

Here she is this morning eating strawberry yogurt.  And proof that she is right-handed.

At the end I tried to get her to sign 'more'.  She knows it, but only uses it sometimes.  Most time her 'more' is what you saw there - reaching out with a little whine.  Eh, it's a work in progress.  

We are always so very proud of our little, independent sweet Taylor.

Just Between Friends Consignment Sale

If you know me well, you know I love a deal.  I rarely buy anything full price, and usually shop on the clearance rack.  

Everyone knows how incredibly fast kids grow - especially out of their clothes.  It's hard to keep up with what size they are wearing.  Taylor must have just gone through a growth spurt because a couple of weeks ago her jeans were just the right length, and now they look like high waters!  Sigh.

I had heard about the Just Between Friends consignment sale that comes here twice a year, once before summer with only summer clothes, and once before winter. (click here for their website).  It's a traveling sale that goes all over the nation.  My friend Cassie reminded me about it, and said they were coming end of February.  I decided to go check it out on Thursday since I had heard about it from several people dating back from when I was pregnant.

WOW!  They have a ton of stuff for babies/children!  Everything from clothes, to cribs, to toys, to shoes, to books, to room decor, to diaper genies, to baby swings and bouncy seats, to baby monitors, to....you get the point.  EVERYTHING.  It is all very organized by girls and boys stuff, then by size.  It's really the perfect place to go if you're pregnant, you can stock up on everything and at great prices.  Everything there is 'gently used' (so they say), but who cares when they will outgrow it in a month!  

On Thursday I got 17 clothing items, 2 pair of shoes ($3 a piece), an unopened package of diapers ($6), and a toy laptop all for $77!   

Cassie also told me that on Sunday everything (except a few things) is 50% off.  What?!  I decided to go again (without Taylor - I took her this first time) and see what all I could snatch up.  I stocked up on stuff from size 18 months (which is what she is in now) to 2T  (the size after 24 months).  I figure go ahead and get it now, and she will wear it eventually.

This time I got 23 items (a few were for my best friend Rachel's son, Jake) for $55!  I was finding whole outfits for $1.50!  My thought was, if I even remotely like it I would get it.  

I got Taylor's entire spring and summer wardrobe for about $100.  You can easily spend $100 on just a few items at any children's clothing store.  

Here is what I got

I know it's hard to tell, but after I washed, folded and put it all away, I thought I should lay it all out - but I hate folding laundry and I wasn't going to do it again just to take a picture!  But, you can see it fills a whole drawer - lots of short sleeve shirts and shorts.

I also got a few dresses that Taylor approves of apparently

Trying to put one on

I even found a dress for Easter Sunday for $6.  It looks like it's hardly been worn.  I really like it.

Got this bathing suit for $2.50, it also looks barely worn.  It's from Target where I am guessing would cost $15.

And the most important and exciting item that I found...

A Texas Ranger outfit for $2!  It came with different shorts than seen here that are probably too big for her now.  This would probably cost $35 or $40 in the gift shop.  I snatched this one up quick  when I saw it, and my heart started beating just a little faster.  :)

I can't wait for JBF to come back so I can stock up on winter clothes for next year!