Taylor's 2nd Dental Appointment...Feb 17, 2010

Taylor visited the dentist for the first time last summer. She had a wonderful time! Look at this office...what child wouldn't love a visit? She was excited until she heard a few children crying. Then she became a little more reserved.

She did well, and allowed the cleaning. However, she did say, "okay, I'm done" before her cleaning was actually done.

This was her first time for x-rays. She was sitting in the chair and I said, they are going to take pictures of your teeth. She opened her mouth so I could get a picture....too cute!

I explained it's not with a camera like mine, but a machine.

The dental assistant said it's going to touch your nose and make a beeping sound. That was not the best thing to say. Taylor is very protective of her nose and doesn't like loud noises. She finally consented, after we assured her it would not actually touch her nose. She kept her ears plugged while I held her elbow for comfort.

This is what we got...

If there is not enough room for these big teeth in her little mouth...don't worry...she will get braces.

She was watching cars with her own personal headset while she waited for the dentist to examine her teeth.

When that got old she entertained herself by brushing the perfect teeth of this alligator...

She did well, and we think very highly of her dentist!

Thankful

I am thankful for our sunsets...

Taylor and I were driving towards our house, after her dental appointment and a trip to the store. I took some pictures of what I see as I am driving home. It is starting to stay lighter a little later. We have had some very pretty sunsets recently. I love the summer sunsets off my deck....soon, we will have them again.

Resourcefulness

Ben and I were sitting in the living room when we heard Taylor getting into the pantry. This picture is not of her getting into the pantry, but it shows her resourcefulness. She then came into the living room with a can of soup. She said, "I got this myself, but not with my little feet. I used my chair. See my legs are too short. See your legs are long...my legs are too short." I told her that her legs are perfect for her and they are longer than they once were. I said you have very cute legs. She said, "Oh, thank you."

Valentine's Day and the Daytona 500

For Valentine's Day, Ben got Taylor and I flowers and chocolates! He's so good to us! Ben and I also got Taylor a little zhu zhu pet hamster she named Rainbow Dash. She was so excited. It turned out that Valentine's day landed on another special day...the Daytona 500.

Prior to the Daytona 500 there is a lot of great races in Daytona. One of my favorite events is the Duels on the Thursday before. We were so excited since Dale Jr was starting on the front row in the 2nd position. We watched the race at Brad and Melody's. Brad used the smoker and made ribs and pork...along with other goodies we brought like cream cheese and bacon jalepenos. Matt also came to the party and Stephen and Susan brought Hudson, who played very well with Taylor and Kyler. It was a great day! The race had an awesome finish with Dale Jr going from 10th to 2nd in the last lap. I was so excited! And look who else came to the party...

Taylor was thrilled to have Santa at our Daytona party! She asked him for a dinosaur for Christmas. I caught her in the kitchen climbing up on a stool. I asked her what she was doing and she said she was getting a sucker for Santa. It really was a wonderful Valentine's Day!

Grandpa's 60th Birthday

For grandpa's 60th birthday, grandma spent hours (14 on just one day) and days scanning pictures into her computer to make a dvd to music. She scanned something like 550 pictures and loaded lots of music. I was so happy I got to help put all her hard work together. It was so much fun to see all the pictures! The dvd lasted 30 minutes and it was great fun to watch. Taylor was so excited when I told her we were going over to help grandma before the party that she didn't want to eat. She said, "I'll just eat some of grandpa's birthday cake." Silly girl. She did help grandma by stacking spinach and other tasks her grandma gave her to do...like helping carry out the wine glasses. Things I wouldn't have her do, but her grandma trusts her completely. She also played hide and seek with Brody who was also helping grandma.

At the party Taylor found new friends, Shae and Sky, along with her cousin Kimberly. They played hide and seek, among other things. Shae and Taylor were instant friends. Shae is two months younger than Taylor. Hopefully we will have some fun days at the park this summer.

It was a wonderful evening! Along with all our family, Jack and Janet, Ruth and Ted, and Rayne and Levi also attended.

Taylor made sure she got in the picture...right next to HER grandpa, of course.

Has this ever happened to you?

You know those days when you are so tired....you lay on the foot rest and your daddy pushes you back and forth with his foot and you just fall asleep.

Quinn's Hot Springs

Taylor woke up happy and ready to go to grandma and grandpa's house for the night. Ben and I dropped her off and drove to Brad and Melody's who drove us to Quinn's Hot Springs. Unfortunately, I didn't get a lot of pictures. We stopped at the Silver Dollar bar along our way. We had dinner reservations at Quinn's. They have a wonderful prime rib dinner! We planned our trip too late to stay the night at Quinn's, so we drove to a little town called Thompson Falls. Our hotel had a little bar and we had a great evening hanging out with Brad and Melody!

I was so excited to see snow in the morning! We saw a couple herds of big horn sheep along our way. It was a beautiful drive!

We drove back to Quinn's for breakfast, which (again) was fabulous! This was our first trip to Quinn's. I was a little skeptical when I saw the pictures on the internet. It is a great place and I want to go back real soon! The worst part was having Taylor gone overnight. I love that she loves to spend time with her grandparents, and I did have a wonderful time with Ben, but I find that I sleep horribly when Taylor's away.

Who needs a pet?

Taylor calls her daddy's feet, "footsy." She talks to it and pretends it's a puppy. So far, I think I'm okay not to get an animal.

Jumping...a lot

As with every outing, we make sure we take a friend and a water.

We love to go jumping with my cousin and her girls. Anissa and Taylor giggling as they are coming down the slide.

Here they are having a little tea party in one of the jumpers.

This is good exercise for adults too. Lorinda is going down head first with Taylor.

Yes, even I climbed up and slid down a few times. It's great fun!

Shopping at Old Navy

It's always fun to take Taylor shopping! She will ask if she can find a toy to carry around the store. She usually has no problem leaving the toy behind on our way out. Old Navy has this machine that seems to put somewhat interactive games on the floor.

It was so much fun watching her play as the images and games changed...

Even if we do not need anything, I love to take her out to just walk around, try things on, maybe get a treat. I truly enjoy her company! On the way home she often says, "Mommy I had a lot of fun today." She recently told me, "Mommy, I love everything about you." She melts my heart!

Playing with Daddy

It goes a little something like this...Daddy is looking at something on the computer. Taylor climbs up behind him and smacks him...then he turns around and gets her...

Then she runs off giggling...

Then they do it again. They sometimes play a little rougher than I would like, but they seem to be having a good time!

Art

Notice the little faces, arms and hands. She even made a little "bow" on the head.

Taylor and her Grandpa

Cute! Yes, grandpa and Taylor come back from feeding the horses...each with a piece of straw in their mouth. Then they headed off for a walk to the top of the mountain. I know grandpa thinks this will make me mad, but I know he wouldn't give her anything bad for her and no matter how dirty he lets her get, I know I can clean her up!

I was jumping rope in my house recently. I told Taylor how my grandpa taught me how to jump rope. Then she told me a story about how her grandpa taught her to jump rope. She likes to turn all our stories into stories about her. I still carry, in my car, the snow scraper brush my grandpa gave me while I was visiting one year. I'm glad Taylor has so much fun with her grandpa and loves him so much!

Some Favorite Pictures from Taylor's Dance Class

On this day, Taylor had the white tutu. The girls are given a random tutu at the end of each class to dance around in while listening to music and they "freeze" when the music stops.

I love to watch her dance and follow instruction. She does better the first part of class, then I see her getting distracted a little by babies and little brother's playing while they are waiting for their dancing sister.

She is doing her exercise, toe...heel, across the floor. When she gets almost to the end, she reaches back to another girl to help her. I thought that was so sweet. She has such a kind heart.

They were then to walk backwards, toe...heel. However, Taylor got distracted by a bug she saw on the floor...

I heard her telling the teacher about it. Eventually, I saw her step on it.

I see her improving each week as she remembers what she has learned. We do practice at home.

Here she is skipping across the floor...

On her first day, she needed assistance getting on her tutu, but now she can do it all by herself...

She was laughing as she was dancing...

This is Hannah and Taylor. Hannah lives in our neighborhood and is about two weeks younger than Taylor. Taylor calls Hannah her friend and really likes her.

Sometimes when Taylor is being a little naughty she will stop and try to be cute by saying mommy look and show me some of her moves...this is high fifth...