Easter Bunny

The picture finally came from the Easter Eggstravaganza that we ordered

Sorry its a little lopsided, but I was trying to scan it - Taylor had just woken up from her nap and I was in a hurry to get it done before she started wailing for me to come get her.  Regardless, there it is!  

I love how nervous she looks, but still smiling.  Her little clinched fists and smirk make me think she is thinking, 'what in the world is THIS big furry thing?  And get me down!'.  

I just knew she would SCREAM when we put her in the bunny's lap, but she didn't and was fine for a whole 10 seconds.  Then she lost it.

And wanted down.  I don't blame her, those things scare me too!  

Monkey See Monkey Do

The other night I heard squeals of delight coming from another room.  I go into the bedroom and this is the craziness that is going on.

The squeals were actually a lot louder than that, I just caught the tail end of the shenanigans.  

Silly girl.  And silly Daddy.

Looking Back

We took a trip to Shreveport to see our friends and for JT to look for potential jobs there.  The job search isn't going very well, so we are looking other places.  

I took Taylor down to my old stomping ground 

I really just wanted to take her somewhere she could roam free.  And roam free she did.  Finding a baseball and stepping on home plate (of the bullpen).

Looks like a natural, doesn't she?  

Here we are on the field, that is looking pretty good

Enjoy these picture from then and now

This was from Senior Day.  My parents and I on the right, coaches in the middle, and Lauren Jackson and her parents on the left

Now

(her shirt says, 'Daddy does my hair')

With another Lauren.  In front of the dugout

Now they have a fancy brick dugout

Walking up to the plate for my last at bat.  It sure was a memorable one.

Now

And then a few more pictures

With friend and roommate Amanda Sharp - 'Sharpie'

Rachel's last game where we came back to win in dramatic fashion.  We were obviously very excited.  I just love this picture.
Us after my last game (she is a year ahead of me in school)

After all of that excitement

It was time to take a nap!  

People often ask me if I miss playing.  No, not really.  I miss the girls and being competitive, that's really it.  I miss having an instant group of friends that you already had things in common with.  I have found that I don't make friends that easily, I am pretty introverted and trying to start a conversation with someone I don't know is not something that comes natural to me.  I just don't do it.  Oddly enough, all of us girls all got along pretty well.  Of course there were cliques, but no one cared and we weren't out to get each other - we were a team.  

I don't miss the 3 hour practices, double headers in the 100 degree heat, driving 12 hours to play just 3 games, weight lifting at 6 am, trying to balance school work along with games and practices...and the list goes on.

It was fun to walk around in the field and remember those days.  They sure were fun, but as they always say, life goes on...

16 Months

Wow, it seems like Taylor has learned so much since my last monthly update.  She understands so much and her vocabulary is growing!  She knows all of the important words in life like 'cookie' and 'yes'.  I am so glad she has learned 'yes' before the word 'no'.  Can't wait until she learns that one.  Her is a list of the words she knows (even if I have only heard her say them once) and how she pronounces them:

yes - "es"

cookie - "coo-e"

ball - "bah"

bird - "bir"

cheese - "ee-s"

outside - "ow-sy"

dirty - "dir-y"

stuck - "uck"

hi - "hi"

boat - "bo"

I am sure I am forgetting a few.

She knows the orders of things.  What I mean is, we don't have to say we are leaving to go somewhere - we get her dressed, put her shoes on and then she immediately goes to the front door as if to say, "lets go!".  So, once you put her shoes on you better be ready to get out the door!  

She is growing so fast these days.  Here is her 16 month picture, she looks like she is 3 years old!  Her legs take up the entire chair

I will be very interested to see where she stands in terms of size at her 18 month appointment.  And the kid still doesn't eat a whole lot, so I am not sure what is fueling these growth spurts!    I have tried a different tactic a few time to get her to eat and not whine about it

Have her check her email!  No really, just get her to play with something for a few minutes while I stuff food in.  She always eats better while distracted.  

Now that spring has sprung we have been spending more time outside.  And even got out the water table that Rachel sent.  Thanks Rach!

She loves to just dump water on herself...and chew on the water hose, apparently.  Crazy kid.  

We even revved up the hot tub at my parents house last weekend, since the pool water is still too cold to swim.  Taylor was a little apprehensive at first

but once she got in, she loved it!

And look at this.  I took this today with my phone because I was so astounded at what she was doing, I wanted to take a quick picture.  She is carrying around two large balls around.  She figured out how to pick them both up without dropping one.  I was amazed.

And here is one final picture, I just love her attitude and body language.  

Happy 16 months sweet Taylor!

Main St. Arts Festival

On Saturday we decided last minute to go to the annual Main St. Arts Festival in downtown Fort Worth.  I had just gotten back from working out and JT said we could either mow the grass or go to the Arts Festival.  Not a hard decision. 

Again, it was good, cheap fun.  The admission was free, but cost us $10 to park!  

We walked around, Taylor in the stroller, and looked at the different booths set up with all different kinds of art.  Everything was for sale, we weren't going to buy anything.  Just wanted to get out and enjoy the day together.  

After we ate lunch (that I packed, again cheap) we found a good spot for Taylor to run around...and pick up cigarette butts!  Yuck.  They were everywhere.  If you're going to smoke, at least clean up after yourself so my 16 month old doesn't pick them up and try and eat them!!!  

Anyways, JT and I took turns chasing around Taylor the Tornado.  There was lots of this going on

Carrying her back to where our stuff was.

Here she is finishing off her lunch (string cheese) with her legs crossed!  Seriously, she looks about 3 years old in the picture.  Albeit, she only sat like this for a mere 10 seconds but still was so cute.

Oops, don't drop a piece.  

There was quite a crowd.  It was nice weather, good food (we only smelled it, didnt buy anything), and good music!  

Choo Choo Train

On Friday we took Taylor on a train ride!  There is a miniature train that goes over the Trinity River

And through Trinity Park.  I remember going on it with my mom when I was little and wanted to take Taylor on it.  The weather has been weird lately, with rain and random cold fronts, but Friday it was perfect weather.  

Since JT still doesn't have a 'real job' - although we are very grateful for the job he has at Borders, I don't count it as a 'real job'.  Anyways, since we don't have much money coming it right now we are always on the lookout for good, CHEAP fun.  The train ride is only $3 per adult, and I thought Taylor was free but she cost $2.50 to ride.  Oh well, it's better than the $12 for each adult AND $5 to park to go to the zoo!  What a rip off.  I can handle the $5 or $7 to ride the train. 

When we got there we had to wait a little while for the train to come back, so we let Taylor run around and I snagged her for one picture of us in front of the river and apparently the construction site.

I have a sweatshirt tied around my waist, if you're wondering what I am wearing

Not too long after, the train came!  Here she is with JT watching the train come in.

This is her, 'whoa, what is that?' face

We all got on board, and Taylor was very curious what was going on

We all had a great time!  The weather was perfect and so was the scenery.

I hesitated to take Taylor on the train by myself because I really didn't know if she would just sit there.  We all know she is a mover and a shaker, and she never sits still for longer than a couple minutes (if that).  Luckily there is one stop on the way, where the train turns around and you can get out and get popcorn and drinks!  I sent JT to see how much the popcorn cost.  He came back with a decent size box of popcorn that cost $1!  That's my kind of deal.  Taylor's 'sit still' limit was met on the way out, she was climbing all over us, but once we got the popcorn and started heading back she was very happy to eat popcorn, look around and just sit.  Ahhhh.
I kept telling Taylor, 'we are on a choo choo train!  CHOO CHOO!' and would make the hand motion.  She picked it up very quickly and every time the engineer would sound the horn, I would say, 'Choo Choo!' to which she would say 'ch ch!' and raise her arm up.  

Even later that night when I had a softball game and we met Cassie and Hendrix there (her husband, David, plays on the team) Taylor told her about the 'ch ch' train.  

We are looking forward to the warm weather and riding the Ch Ch Train again! 

Easter Eggstravaganza

Happy Easter!  We had a fun-filled, busy weekend.  Get ready for a long post with lots of pictures!

We started bright and early Saturday morning with an Easter egg hunt on the golf driving range.

Ok, it wasn't really an egg hunt since the eggs weren't hidden.  More like an egg pick-up-and-put-it-in-your-basket.  I think it lasted about 2 minutes, then all the eggs were gone.  But, Taylor didn't care she got her fair share and was super excited to see the eggs had candy in them.  

We had been practicing throughout the week with eggs that we bought, but they were empty.  Boy, was she excited to see stuff actually in these eggs!  I am sure she thought, 'you've been holding out on me, Mom!'

There were tons of kids activites after the egg hunt was over.  

A petting zoo, that Taylor loved.

A bounce house that she did not love.

Watched a magic show and ate popcorn with Daddy

The Easter bunny, which she did surprisingly well with...for about 10 seconds then started to cry.  (they are mailing the real picture)

A choo-choo train

After all of that we ate some lunch, and Taylor took some pictures!  No really, my Dad showed her how and these are the ones she took.  Pretty good if you ask me.

Isn't the one with my Dad great?  I love it.

After we ate, we went home and took naps.  Talyor napped for 3 hours!  That's a record for her.  I asked JT if we have to have that much activity everyday for her to nap like that.  I don't think I have it in me to do that everyday!  

Easter morning Taylor got her Easter basket

That had her very own cell phone so she can call her crew

We went to church where Taylor did great in the nursery (it's hit or miss with her).  

In her Easter dress with Daddy.

After a quick nap, we went over to our friends Nikki, Casey and their 3 kids - The Circus!  They hid eggs in their yard for a little egg hunt.  Taylor was super excited again to put eggs in her basket.

And really excited to find candy in these eggs too!  

Guess she didn't like that flavor.

Nikki and Casey have some really fun toys for their kids.  They have a big yard, lots of room for mini-four wheelers!  We taught Taylor how to make it go, and off she went!

This was the last part of her jaunt around the yard, and it was too funny.  

Then they got out their mini John Deere tractor!  What?!  I am telling you, they have some cool toys.

I think this picture is priceless.  Two girls in Easter dresses riding a John Deere tractor!  

Bryn 'drove' while Taylor rode along.  Bryn knows how to push the pedal, but don't think she's got the steering down quite yet.  She is 10 months older than Taylor, so yes, she is already driving.  :)  

Pam (Nikki's Mom) steered while we ran along side making sure no one fell out!  It was the cutest, funniest thing ever.

Even though Bryn is almost a year older, they are about the same size and great playmates!  

We went home after a fun-filled afternoon and Taylor took another good nap.  Whew, talk about a whirlwind weekend, but it sure was fun!