She's Here!!!

Au. S. Taylor was born Tuesday, March 8th at 5:52 pm.

A routine induction became a C-section when it was discovered that our little acrobat had flipped in the womb and was lying transverse.  So we have a bunch of shots of Mommy and Daddy in scrubs as a result.  Enjoy!

Weighing in at 8 lbs. 7 oz. and 21.5 inches long, she came to earth with a head full of fuzzy dark hair and very sweet spirit.

And now it's time to meet the rest of the family....



Getting ready for baby!

Thanks to the wonders of technology (and weekly ultrasounds ordered by the doctor) our family gets a 3-D sneek peek at it's newest member.

(the twisty-looking thing on the side of her face is the umbilical cord)

"No, I'm not having twins!"--is a phrase that Mommy has been saying a lot lately in response to the rather inconsiderate queries of strangers.  Yes folks, there's only one baby in there--one baby and her olympic sized swimming pool of amniotic fluid (fluid retention is a common and rather uncomfortable side effect of gestational diabetes).  This picture was taken at 37 weeks.

Happy 3-years old to P.! 

She celebrated her birthday weekend by going on a bike ride with her Daddy and sister, then hitting McDonald's for lunch.  Thanks to Mommy for the delicious cake and to all her family and friends for the birthday wishes.  A great time was had by all.

And a special big thank you to A. for letting P. wear her birthday crown.





Twas the Night Before Christmas and All through the House,

Not a creature was stirring....

....because we were all outside enjoying a bonfire!   A recent windstorm had blown down a rather large branch from our Mesquite tree.  So what do you do with a large patch of dirt and lots of extra wood?  You build a fire, of course!  We enjoyed roasted hot dogs and s'mores, then Daddy read the Christmas story from the Bible.  It was a wonderful way to spend Christmas Eve and may even become a family tradition.

Our two little helpers take a break from feeding the flames to enjoy some liquid refreshment a la soda can and sippy cup.

And what do you know...Santa came the next day!  In addition to the big red guy, we'd like to thank all the very special Santas out there who provided us with so many fun surprises.

A. turns 5!!!  We celebrated by taking a family outing to the Arizona Museum for Youth and making a specially requested homemade pizza dinner.  Yummmm.

And don't forget the specially requested pink birthday cake with gumdrops.  No kidding, that's what she wanted.

The birthday girl generously allowed her little sister to open up some of her presents.  It was awfully nice of her and they both had a fabulous time playing with everything the next day. 

 

The temperature dropped to 50 degrees in early December.  Time to break out the cold weather gear!

Happy Halloween From the Taylors

 No monsters here!  Just cute little ballerinas and Princess Belles

 Oh boy, do we love being silly!

It's the GREAT PUMPKIN!  Thanks to Daddy for doing all the carving.

An avid biker himself, Daddy decided it was finally time to get his girls some bikes (moving to a place that actually has sidewalks also aided in the decision).  A. & P. were thrilled!  They've been out riding in our cul-de-saq nearly every day, even joining their Daddy for an early morning jaunt this week.  (And yes, Alexis is, in fact, riding a boy's Jeep bike tricked out with a princess basket.  Apparently, none of the girls' varieties of bikes in her size met Jay's meticulous standards.)



A small lake forms in the corner of our backyard after an unusually large rainstorm.  A. & P. quickly take advantage of the soggy conditions to get themselves good and muddy.

SEDONA, ARIZONA!

 Aunt Ya-Ya invites Mommy, A. & P. to join her for a week in Sedona!  (Daddy couldn't come--he had to work.)  We had a terrific time.  Thanks soooo much Aunt Ya-Ya!

 Aunt Ya-ya and the girls cool off their feet at Montezuma's Well

 Aunt Ya-ya, A. & P. sliding down the very aptly named "Sliding Rock Canyon."  The river bottom is covered with a fine layer of moss an algae making it incredible slippery and creating numerous natural waterslides.  It was SOO much fun--we could have stayed there all day.

 A. proudly displays the trout that she caught at a nearby trout farm.

 P. cowers in front of the twitching trout that she likewise caught at the nearby trout farm.

Another breathtaking view from Sedona

It's time for school!!

A.'s first day of Pre-school!  Though P. is still too young to attend, she prepared herself nonetheless by donning her purple Tinkerbell backpack and clutching her favorite used-to-be-pink blankie.

Did we ever mention that Arizona gets HOT!!!  Here are a few pics of what we have to do to stay cool!

 Dad sprays A. & P. with the hose while they jump on the tramp.

Running amok through the sprinklers.

And when it does happen to rain, we take full advantage of it by rolling around in the mud as much as possible.  (1/3 of our backyard has yet to be landscaped making it the neighborhood's largest sandbox/mudpit much to the messmaking joy of our little girls.)

Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam,

Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home.

  

Homeowners again!  In April our house in Tucson sold, freeing us up to purchase a new home in the Phoenix area. 

And it appears that we're going to be needing the extra square footage--the same day we signed for the house we also found out our family is going to be getting one person larger.  Welcome Baby Taylor #3, due in March 2011!

A FEW FUN FOTOS

 A. decides that she'd rather sleep on a pillow, in a laundry basket, on her bed rather than just getting under the covers.

 P. couldn't be more ecstatic about the cute little rosette clips that Aunt Amy sent her.  And they actually stay in her hair (now that she has some)!

 It was superheroes day at the library and these little avengers got to decorate their very own hero masks, which, due to the rather wide sizing of the eye holes, they really couldn't see out of at all and ended up running into a lot of walls and tables as they raced around the apartment.

Just being silly.

Gee, I wonder what color the girls' Easter dresses are going to be this year?

Happy 2 years old to P.!

Yummmmm, this cake tastes pretty good!

Even A. scored a birthday gift on P.'s big day--princess night-night dresses with matching slippers and fluffy pen wands from Grandma M. These little girls' dreams truly have come true.