TWO

For Tay's birthday, we decided to go camping at Cherry Hill.  This girl LOVES the water, and honestly, I didn't think I had the energy to put on a giant party.  So my dad set us up with his sweet trailer and just our little family ventured on our first ever camping trip.

 This goofball loved it. 

 After swimming we had a purple tea party for dinner.  When I would ask Taya about her birthday coming up, she would always say, "purple party". . . so that's exactly what we did.

 Taya has always had a funny obsession with fun cups and fun drinks.  She and Milo did cheers and toasts, and drank an entire bottle of Gatorade.

 It was really fun to celebrate as a family.  We are all together all of the time, but it seems like whenever we do something really different and fun, we always invite family and friends.  For the first little bit, Milo kept asking, "and who else is coming?"  It forced them to play with each other, and it was so cute.  After Taya's dinner I walked in the trailer, where the kids were sitting on the floor together sharing Elsa and Anna fruit snacks.  Milo says, "Tay we're best friends huh?". . . Talk about melt a mom's heart!

 Milo was a very good sport about Taya having the spotlight.  He's such a good boy.

The kids loved having daddy time.  By the end of the trip both of them were glued to him.

 We improvised for birthday cake.  She didn't seem disappointed at all by her birthday s'more.

 Ya, definitely not disappointed!

 The next day was Sunday, and we went to family dinner at Grandma and Grandpa Bird's. Yes Taya is in the same outfit, she insisted on her purple princess tutu for three days straight. I made a cake for dessert and so everyone else could sing to her.  She was SO funny about the cake.  She woke up from her nap and saw it sitting on the counter.  She was delighted that it was purple and that it had Ariel on the top.  The whole car ride she kept asking, "Ariel good?  Ariel okay?"  She had a hard time making it through dinner, because she was so excited to eat it.

 I wasn't planning on letting her put her face in it this year, but she wanted to, and let's be honest I'm a pushover when it comes to my kids.

 She was real determined to get her mug in there.

 She ate a giant piece of cake, ice cream, cookies, and topped it off with some bubble gum.  Happy birthday eh?!

 This was grandma and grandpa's gift, and oh my it was a hit! A princess chair for our little diva.

 Taya had also been talking about a purple umbrella for months now.  Aliyah and Hal gave her this Dora one, and she was tickled!  Jake and Ellie gave her a purple dog that she cuddled and cuddled.  It was a purple birthday for sure! 

                                                    This little girl cracks me up!

. . . all tuckered out after such a fun weekend. You may be two, but you're still my baby!  I love you purple princess.

Just a Day Short of Two

Dear Taya,
You my dear, are my secret love affair.  My all the time obsession.  I think that you are so beautiful, that it surprises me when people on the street don't pause to look at you.  The other day I told your dad, "I find so much joy in being with Taya".  And it's absolutely true.  Every day there are a hundred and one snapshot moments that I wish I could store forever:  First thing in the morning when you see your brother, "hi Wiwo".  The sweetest squeezes any baby has ever given-both arms around the neck, holding tight.  Nothing could feel wrong with your sweet little arms wrapping me up. You shaking your curly bed head and saying, "crazy".  Your blue binky pushed to the far right side of your mouth and the way it jiggles when you laugh and talk, like an old man's cigar.  The hilarious way that you run to get lotion after lotion.  I've never known of a baby that loves back massages the way you do.  That giant toothy smile.  Those chubby baby cheeks.  Your beautiful skin.  The dark mocha of your eyes.  The way you sing "Let it Go" and "Honey Honey", whenever you hear any rhythm. Your squat walk/dance- That Shakira got you young. Even your stubborn fits, insistence on weird clothing and blue crocs, and absolute distaste for getting your hair done.  Your obsession with baskets and buckets.  That gravely voice.  How you whisper, "no monsters", whenever you're feeling scared.  Watching strangers light up when you say, "hi guy".  The fact that you tell people that your name is Cocoa.  The proud triumph that crosses your face when you make it through a tube slide.  Watching you run across the lawn to say hi to Dathan and Lucy.  Hearing you whisper the words to twinkle twinkle as I rock you and your 70 blankets to sleep. The feeling of contentment that you've brought to my life, and the ways that you've taught me to be a better person.  I can't believe it's been two years.  Two years together, and I hope 100 more to come.  You are my angel and I'm so grateful that God has allowed me to be your mother.  I love you my girl.

Redneck Weekend

The first warm weekend around here was so much fun.
We definitely hillbillied it up.
Started the day with some yard sales.
Then Milo got to try out Dathan's new lawn mower.  Milo thought it was better than Disneyland. Then he went to the other neighbor's house, and drove his backhoe.  Oh, what a happy boy!

After nap time we went to Burger Bar with my parents.  Burger Bar is this delicious side of the road hamburger shop.  There are no tables, so everyone improvises and eats out of the back of their tailgates.  The food is as American as you can get.  Single cheese burger up to quad, shakes, and home cut fries.  I LOVE it.  It's not Chris's favorite, but he was a good sport.  Milo sided with me and ate his entire meal.  He was delighted that he got to eat dinner in the back of papa's truck.  After dinner, we took the kids to the demolition derby.  Chris won tickets from a radio station.   We weren't sure if the kids were old enough to think that was cool, or if they would just be scared by the crashing cars and loud noises.  We decided to be brave and try (with grandma and grandpa's help). 

 I'm so glad we took the risk!  The stadium was packed and we had to sit sandwiched in the middle of so many sweaty people.  Milo usually freaks out in crowds, but I guess he got over it because he loved the water trucks, crashing cars, tow trucks, tractors, etc. . .
 He was so much fun.  I swear he barely blinked all night.  It was definitely his thing. 

When the first heat started, Taya clung to me.  You don't realize how noisy it is until you're thinking about your baby.  I thought that we would probably have to take turns outside of the stadium with her, but then she saw the "purple".  There were two purple cars that she was absolutely obsessed with. She would say "crash" every time that they hit someone.  By the end of the first round she was dancing and singing "Who Let the Dogs Out".  She didn't want to walk around and climb all over, she was just content to watch the show.  She also LOVED her snow cone.  We let the kids stay until 10, which is 2 hours passed their normal bedtime, but they were having so much fun we didn't want to leave. I really hope that this first warm weekend was an indicator of what the rest of the summer will be like, because it was absolutely awesome!

Easterathon

 We do Easter big.  Easter pictures, Easter clothes, and a whole weekend of getting together and doing fun stuff.

 We kicked it off on Saturday with the Manning cousins.  As you can tell they loved it.

 We went to the pool for the Easter egg dive.  Taya has been talking about the Easter bunny for weeks.  She'll point at Milo's old pictures, but when push came to shove, she was scared to death of him. I didn't mind her clinging to me though.

 Taya was as happy as could be once she started swimming.  She kind of swam around the eggs. . . totally missed the point of the exercise, but had a really great time!

 Milo got a grundle of eggs and candy this year.  He even found the "golden egg", which is kind of a big deal.  He also loved just being in the water. It made me so excited for summer.

Not photographed was dying Easter eggs and the kids Easter egg hunt with mom and dad, which took place Sunday morning.  We were too busy enjoying to snap pictures, but it was SO fun.  Both kids really got into it and made it a blast. 

 Our cuties all dolled up for church, thanks to Grandma Hotts and Grandma Vicky for the outfits.

 Then, who doesn't enjoy a little 4 wheeling on Easter?  We really are rednecks:)  These are papas new toys, which my kids are thrilled about.  They've already rode them for hours out in the field.

 Happy Easter face!

 And I'm telling you, Easter is just as big as Christmas. . . Grandma and Grandpa Bird bought all of the kids bikes.  Milo is just figuring his out, but he looks like such a stud!

 This may be the best picture of ALL of Easter.  Check out nice aunty Chera. . . with a mustache.  Bryan drew it on her as part of our Easter egg relay.  So funny!

These two are going to be best friends. . . they just don't know it yet!

 Obviously her mother's daughter.  LOVED her some Easter candy!

By Sunday night, I was exhausted--and so happy.  It was so fun to spend time with everyone, and the kids made it even more fun!  It's days like these that I'm so grateful to live close to family.