Taylor Turns 2!!

Happy 2nd birthday, Taylor Grace!

Taylor turned 2 on November 24th, which happened to be Thanksgiving day! We had a wonderful time celebrating Taylor's birthday last week. Sam and I were both off of work Wednesday through Friday, so we took Taylor out to GymQuest and Red Robin on Wednesday to celebrate as a family. She loved every minute of jumping on the trampoline and falling into the foam pit at GymQuest, and loved it even more when the servers at Red Robin sang to her and gave her a balloon!

Thursday was Thanksgiving, and we had a wonderful time at Grandma and Grandpa Forst's house. Taylor was in rare form, enjoying her blocks and jumping off of the first step of the stairs (over, and over, and over!).

On Friday, we had fun bowling with the Pavelka clan! Taylor rolled a couple of bowling balls down the bumper lane, which she loved!

Taylor is growing like crazy. She speaks in full sentences now. Our favorite repeated sayings are:

"It's ok mama, it's just ____ (random item that she decides to be afraid of that day)"
"Mama/dada, I need to ask you something" (and then doesn't have any question for us)
"I love you mama/dada!"
"OH WOW, look at that ____!!!"
"Holy moley!"
"Aiy-aiy-aiy!"

She is on her way to being potty trained - she usually goes #1 in the potty 3-5 times per day, and she lets us know when she needs to go. She has gone #2 once, but still seems hesitant. We are going to potty train her hard-core when we are on winter break.

She is also fully into her terrible twos: we hear a lot of "Leave me alone!" or "Don't touch/look at me!". She also chooses to refuse to do certain random things, like brushing her teeth, eating, or cleaning up, which lands her in time-out. She also decided to take mommy's wedding ring before mommy was awake and throw it into her diaper pail. We spent an entire day frantically searching the house for it. I don't know what made us look in the diaper pail, but we are sure glad we did!!

Here are some pictures of Taylor celebrating her 2nd birthday!

Loving rolling around on the mats!

Admiring the big kids doing flips!

Rolling around!

Falling in the foam pit!

Testing out the balance beam!

Getting our haircut at Boozle-B's!

The "after" picture!

Taking a big spoonful of birthday ice cream at Red Robin!

Bowling!

Our Little Chef!

Last Friday, we had a fun night of making pizzas together! Taylor loved spreading the sauce, sprinkling the cheese, and shaking the spices and herbs that we used in the sauce. The pizza ended up being disgusting, but the cooking process was worth it!

Can't wait to begin!

Spreading the sauce

Concentrating too hard to stop and pose for a picture!

We didn't even have the pizza in the oven yet, and she was taking chunks of cheese right off of it!

Sneaking some cheese

Trick or Treat!

Happy belated Halloween! Taylor went as a strawberry. She loved her outfit so much that she insisted on wearing her strawberry hat throughout the month of October. She loved trick-or-treating this year! After a couple of houses, she seemed to get the hang of it. We, of course, had a few extra grabs in people's buckets (which we put back!), some leaves, rocks, and sticks that made it into her candy bag, and one big fall which left her in tears and ended our trip early. She was also slightly afraid of some of the bigger kids in their scary costumes. She kept saying "It's ok mama, it's just a boy in a mask! That's all!" over and over and over! In fact, she STILL says it whenever she is tired or hears a noise in the house!

Overall, Halloween was a success, and we are looking forward to many more years of trick or treating (and the candy that comes with it!)!

Ready to go!

Family pic


Holding on to her beloved hat!

Her pal, Evelyn!

I had to sneak in a picture of my first grade team - we went as Things 1-7, and our kindergarten teacher was the Cat in the Hat!

Pumpkin Patch!

Last week, we took a trip to Dollinger Family Farms to pick out a pumpkin! We enjoyed going in the playhouses, sliding down the slides, and petting all of the animals! Taylor was a little less afraid of the animals this year - it was a completely different experience! Our friends Jon and Julie joined us, and we all went out for pizza afterward!

Family Photo

This is the closest we could get her to it!

Picking out the perfect pumpkin!

Taking a break!

Loving the silly things the goats were doing!

Petting a horsie!

Goodbye summer - welcome fall!

We spent the day today at Kuiper's Family Farm picking apples, riding on the hayride, and eating yummy cinnamon doughnuts! Taylor loved it! All day long, while we got ready to go, she kept saying "We go pick apples mommy?" and "Raise your hand you like picking apples!". The experience did not disappoint her - she loved the bumpy hayride (particularly because it was pulled by a "Big T"), looking for apples under the trees, and tasting every apple she picked (sorry Kuiper's, I think we broke the "don't waste any apples" rule!) !

On the hayride!

Enjoying the bumpy ride!

She was equally proud of the leaves she picked off of the trees!

Posing for the camera

Just taking a break to taste some apples!

Yum!!

Exploring the "Big T"!

Summer Recap!

Well, we have had one busy, fun summer! It's been quite a white since my last post, so let me give an overview of some of the fun we've had!

Fourth of July
Grandma and Grandpa Pavelka, Grandma and Grandpa Forst, and Aunt Mimi came over for a day of fun! We grilled, set up the sprinkler and kiddie pool, and enjoyed the day!





Family Vacation!
We took our first family vacation together to Wisconsin. We had a blast! We spent the first three nights in the North Woods, visiting Uncle Wayne and Aunt Lou with the Pavelka clan. Then the three of us spent three more nights in Milwaukee, visiting the Children's Museum, the Zoo, and swimming in the hotel pool!
North Woods:

The whole group!

The kids! Taylor, Ryan, Mark, and Haley

Taylor and Haley on the boat! (it was nearly impossible to get them both to look at the same time! )

Taylor's version of fishing

Taking a ride!

Milwaukee:

Driving through the pretend drive through at the Children's Museum!

I love the Children's Museum!

We spent a lot of time on the slide at the Children's Museum!

Petting the goats at the Milwaukee Zoo

Getting up close to some butterflies at the zoo's butterfly house!

Taylor's favorite part of the zoo... the bee stand! She still talks about it, 3 weeks later!!

Random Summer Picture:

I had to share this one, because I love her expression!

Big Girl Bed:

Her first night in her big girl bed (Aug. 4th) was very exciting! She couldn't even wait to put her pajamas on!

Like I said, it's really been a wonderful summer. We still have 2 weeks left, but it is going by fast. Our little girl is growing up - we can't believe she is in a bed already! She's been doing well though: her first night, she got up once, but overall night time has been a breeze. Naps have been a little tricky, but we think she is getting the hang of it!

I hope everyone else enjoys the rest of their summer!