Fashionista

Taylor is obsessed with accessories! She constantly seeks out shoes, coats and anything she can put around her neck. It scares me a little bit that she likes to put things around her neck, but ever since she was little she has grabbed anything and everything (and tried to put it on. Whether it is Dylan's tool belt, a necklace, a onesie, anything she can lift over her head becomes a necklace. If this is any sign of what is to come we are going to have a little fashionista on our hands. Luckily her Great Aunt and 2nd cousin like to shop and have a good fashion sense. I can just send Taylor out on shopping dates with them =)

Everyday Taylor goes into the laundry room and picks out a coat and bring it to us to put on. Today, she picked a snowsuit and she walked around with it on for a few hours with the legs dragging behind her.

If there are shoes around, she finds them. We have started trying to get her to put on shoes that are close to her size so she can actually walk in them. Normally, she picks Bryan or Dylan's shoes that are way to big to stay on her feet.

She seems to get really warm in the coats, but if we take them off she goes and grabs it and brings it back to us to be put back on. It is too funny!


We tried to strap Dylan's shoes to her feet. It worked for a little while.


We went to the Phiefer's for dinner over after Christmas and she found their clogs. She loved walking around in these!

Happy Birthday, Taylor!!!!

I can't believe my sweet baby girl is 1!!!! These past 12 months have flown by and I am so in love with Taylor Grace. She has added such a joyful presence to our home and she is truly a gift from God.

On Taylor's actual birthday we had a fun morning at KidsQuest while Dylan was at preschool.

She loves the water area!

She likes Legos but she couldn't quite figure out how to get them to stay on the board.

The best part of the day was dinner. Grandma and Grandpa came over and I made chicken carbonara. Apparently, Taylor likes carbonara.

Taylor's Birthday Party

The day of Taylor's party, Dylan ran into her room when she woke up and this is what we found. Our two kiddos having so much fun! They have such a special relationship with one another and it is so fun to watch them enjoy one another.

Our attempt at a family picture.

A little sibling dance party.

Taylors favorite toy of the night was the Rody. Her smile was pure joy and she could have bounced forever!

Taylor's birthday cake!

My obsession with cake pops continues. They are so delicious!!

Not a fan of the party hat!

Diggin into her cake, YUM!!

Dylan had fun helping her eat the cake and Taylor enjoyed her first cake pop!

Cake is SO GOOD! Happy Birthday, Taylor!!

Birthday Fun

Taylor loves her new toy! Her smile is pure joy!

Random Photos from December

Uncle Jeff and Aunt Tracy meeting Taylor for the first time. They had been gone for over a year and it was so wonderful to see them again!

Aunt Tracy was teaching Dylan to play the drums and the rest of the family was part of "Dylan's Rock 'n Roll Band".

Grandma and Grandpa can get Dylan to do things he would never do at home. He fell asleep on Grandpa's lap while they were listening to Christmas music.

I love my little candy cane man!

Our crazy little Taylor will climb into anything. I can't load or unload the dishwasher if she is around.

Dylan painting paper with red and green paint so we could have homemade wrapping paper. He is a great artist and the paper turned out beautiful! Everyone loved opening their Christmas presents with such special paper.

Dylan is showing our Elf, Snoopy, the message that Santa sent him. Snoopy thought it was very cool!

Our tree had a gate around it this year because of this little cutie. Don't let the smile fool you, she is a crazy lady!

Go Dawgs!!

My wonderful mother-in-law taught me how to use my sewing machine. These are the first two blankets we made. It was so fun spending time with her and learning a new skill. Thank you, Barb!!!

Christmas 2010

Christmas was wonderful! We are so blessed to be able to spend Christmas with our entire family. On Christmas eve we went to Grandpa and Grandma's for dinner. Nana, Papa, Uncle Jeff, Aunt Tracy, Gramps and Aunt Liz were there. We met the Pheifer family at their church and then we headed home to get ready for Santa's arrival.

Nana and Papa spend Christmas eve with us and it is such a special tradition. Nana let Dylan and Taylor open a present on Christmas eve. They were so excited to get Santa and his reindeer! The kids loved it and had so much fun flying it around the house.

Our families are so generous and our house is bursting at the seams with presents on Christmas morning.

Santa's gift to Dylan. You can tell he knew what was going to be inside.

It's a scooter! Dylan couldn't have been more excited!

Taylor (and Dylan) love her Winnie the Pooh riding toy from Aunt Lizzy and Uncle Eric.

Santa brought Taylor a tea set.

The house has been a big hit! We will keep it inside until the weather turns a little bit nicer.

Dylan loves his new sleeping bag and pillow pet!

We didn't think Uncle Eric was going to make it on Christmas morning and it was such a wonderful surprise to see him walk through the door! Taylor was loving him and she wanted to hang out with him all morning.

Thank you Nana and Papa for my fun shopping cart!

Later in the day our Christmas celebration moved to the Kemppainen's house. Dylan joined in on the Red Neck board game that Lauren received for Christmas.

Special day with family!

We love you Aunt Tracy! We are so glad you guys were here for Christmas!

Dylan Hits The Bunny Slope!

Daddy finally got Dylan up to Snoqualmie Pass for some serious skiing! Dylan loved skiing around the neighborhood, but he was very excited to ski the big mountain where Daddy snowboards. Even the drive up was exciting. Dylan was amazed at how much snow was on the mountains and was really excited to hit the slopes. The "magic carpet" made getting back up the hill really easy. It sure is much nicer then the rope tow that Daddy used when he was a kid.

Dylan was natural skier right from the start. He really loved to go fast (as you can see from the video below) and didn't really seem too concerned about slowing down by using the "pizza wedge". Fortunately, Daddy learned to run backwards really fast so he could stop Dylan at the bottom.