Lob her

Here are some quick pictures of Ms. Taya. I cannot BELIEVE she is going to be 3 in less than 2 weeks!! It's amazing how fast time flies when you're having fun. I am the luckiest mom in the world--she brings me SO much happiness :) She recently got a new fish (bishy) named Tootle. Yes, she named it herself and picked it out. He's actually pretty cute--a bright red Beta! She also is really into riding her bike at my mom's house. They bought this handle thing that goes behind her seat so they can keep her balanced while she rides. She LOVES it!


For her birthday I am going to take her to see Kung Fu Panda and have a BBQ with some friends and family--I want her to feel like the princess she is!


She LOVES this hat for some reason...

Taya and my mom's dog, Julie

Being the Diva she is in Chanels!

Taya-isms

Taya is such a funny girl...

On Sunday I was sitting at the kitchen table with Taya's aunt Mak and we started talking about all of the funny things Taya says and does... Right after she put her little hand out and said "Welcome to my Grandma..." to introduce everybody to my mom.

She also has the way of making it near impossible to keep a straight face when getting her in trouble... I almost always have to turn my head away because she makes me laugh!

She's at a stage now where she insists on doing absolutely EVERYTHING herself. She likes to buckle her car seat, pour the water in her oatmeal, brush her hair, pick out her own clothes, read books to me, wash her hair, walk by herself (I'm rarely allowed to hold her ;) ) She's just turned into little miss independent! I'm SO proud of her!!

The other night, she was reading a book with my dad and memorized 10 words and was reading them back to my dad when he would point at them randomly. I really think she'll be able to read by the time she goes to Kindergarten... she has just always wanted to be a "big" girl!

Princess Taya

Here's a cute pic of Taya that I took last week... We were sitting out on the porch reading magazines and enjoying our girl time :) She was *SO* adorable because she was pretending to talk on her cell phone and kept saying "Oh! That's so cute.... oh really? That's cute!" I just love watching her pretend to be a little lady. She's 2 going on 15 most days, so I think I really will have my hands full!!

You are my sunshine

Well it has been awhile since I have posted, but I really hope to get back into the swing of things... sometimes major life changes make it difficult to do even the smallest things, even if it's just posting a small life update. I just felt like I didn't even want to post depressing things, but now I have a lot of happiness in my life. Throughout it all, Taya has been my sunshine. Every single day she finds a way to make me smile and laugh. She is by far the most wonderful thing that has ever happened to me in my entire life and I am so grateful to have such a special little person in my life. I hope you will enjoy her stories as much as I do :)

(This is a picture of her crazy bath hair!)

Car accident....

I am going to make this short, but I just wanted to let everybody know that Taya and I are COMPLETELY ok after our car accident on the interstate last night. Thank you so much to everybody that has shown love and concern... it's been amazing. We really were so lucky to be in the car that we were (A Volvo S-40) and I am just so glad that everybody involved walked away without injuries. Thank you all so much!!

Meow!

Here are a couple of pictures of Taya on Halloween.... Definitely one of the cutest kitties I have ever seen! The night before Halloween, we did a "test run" with the face paint I bought and I put a little bit of pink on her nose and gave her brown whiskers. Then, I put the face paint at the very back of the counter and received a buiness call. When I hung up, I came back into the kitchen to see Taya had pushed a chair over to the face paint and had drawn ALL over the counter, her body, her clothes, EVERYWHERE.... Needless to say, the face paint was completely ruined. (The counters were cleaned easily with a little help from a magic eraser) So, I painted her face with my liquid eyeliner. It didn't turn out perfectly because she didn't want to sit still, but I think it was a great alternative. She had a wonderful Halloween and got a whole bucket-full of Halloween candy just by going to my dad's office. Next year will probably be the first year we actually go trick-or-treating.

ANOTHER song!

Every morning while I'm getting ready for work Taya and I have the same routine and it starts with Britney Spears' new song "Gimme Me." We have Comcast On Demand, so we turn it on really loud and dance around my room singing to it.... haha. As soon as it's over, she starts asking for "another song" So, of course, I turn on another random song. Anything from 50 Cent to Carrie Underwood--huge variety going on. Anyway, for the hour or so that I'm getting ready for work, she dances around my room watching music videos singing and dancing and AS SOON AS they are over, she asks for "another song." It takes me a little bit longer to get ready doing it this way, but it's definitely a lot more entertaining. :-)

handsome couple :-)

I love this picture that was just sent to me of my brother and his beautiful wife, Erika. They were going to a "ball" for the Navy and I think they look like the perfect couple! I just wanted to share :)

I have been really busy with work and school lately, but I hope to become better about posting pictures and blogging within the next couple of weeks when things settle down a little bit..... in the meantime, I hope that everybody is doing well! Hugs!

Happy Face

Here is a picture of Taya with my mom and and dad at the airport in Chicago last month. I just love how happy she looks! Guess it must not have been *that* difficult for her to be away from her parents.... :-)

La la la la

So apparently Taya has a new "friend" named Lala that she pretends to talk to ALL the time on the phone. Finally, I asked my mom if she knew who Lala was (thinking it might be somebody from the church playgroup or something) but she said she had no idea. I guess Taya has made up a new friend! Whenever we ask where Lala is, she usually is at work or at home, so it's not a pretend friend she takes with her wherever she goes. Taya never ceases to entertain me...

Good morning!

This morning I was lying in bed with Taya when she turned, looked at me, moved my hair out of my face, and said "You're a princess, mommy!" It was the sweetest little thing I've ever heard. I said "Thank you, Taya!" and she said "You're welcome very much mommy!" haha she cracks me up.

I can't wait until it's Halloween and she can get all dressed up in her leopard costume. I think we're going to take her to The Group to go around to all of the offices and get candy, and then will take her around the block at home, depending on the weather. I just know she's going to LOVE pretending to be a kitty. Meow!

Mommy Kristi & Daddy Terry

Yep, apparently we have been renamed. We are now known as "Mommy Kristi" and "Daddy Terry" when we are in trouble with our little Taya.... I have no clue where she picked that up, but must say I think it's pretty funny! Also, she has started pretending... meaning she will call Terry "Taya" and want him to call her "daddy." It's so funny! Last night I overheard this conversation (T= Terry and t=taya)

t: Taya, what doing?
T: Nothing daddy, what are you doing?
t: Oh, nothing Taya
*pause*
t: Taya? I love you, Taya.

haha it was so funny! I love her creativity :)

The "Ebbies"

First of all, I am SOOOO happy to have my baby back in town. I know she had a blast, but it felt so weird to not have her home.

So while lil T was gone, she started crying and told my mom she wanted to do "the ebbies." My mom had no clue what she was talking about which frustrated Taya even more... Finally, my mom figured it out and asked her if she meant the ABC's to which Taya replied "Yes, the ebbies... E, B C, D.... " haha I thought it was so cute! She's so much fun :)

This morning we took her to the CSU homecoming parade and she was so happy she could hardly stand it. She had so much fun seeing all of the animals, the police officers, the bands, and best of all, they gave her candy for free! She was so cute because she would hold out her little hand and when they would give her some candy, she would immediately put it in my pocket. We have a whole bag full of candy by the time she was done. It was such a great day.

I'm definitely going to try harder to post more often, so please check back for more. I also am going to post some pics and vids from Taya's adventure to Chicago.

Hugs and love

Dancing queen....

Here is a video of our princess dancing on the bed.... she has been out of town since Wednesday (In Chicago with her grandparents...) so I thought this would be a cute thing to post---T and I laugh every single time we watch it at the end because of her pigtails. Enjoy! Hugs and Love <3

Dinger is a nice dinosaur!!

If you only knew how often Terry and I have the following conversation with Taya:

Taya: "Mommy (or Daddy) I wanna tell you dome-ting..."
Us: "What, Taya?"
Taya: "Dinger id a nice dina-daur....He hug SO much!"

For those of you who don't know, Dinger is the Colorado Rockies mascot. Taya got to meet him about a month or so ago when we took the 3 girls to a game. She has been absolutely enthralled with him ever since! She literally talks about him at *least* once a day. She got to have her picture taken with him and I guess he hugged her, too, since she talks about that all the time as well. Tonight she said "Mommy I go bye-bye to dee (see) Dinger!" It makes me sad because she gets SO upset when we tell her that he's "ni-night."

(Here's a small pic off the Colorado Rockies website of her beloved Dinger....)

Yummy chicken pasta recipe...

Here is one of my favorite recipes.... enjoy!

1/2 lb. (8 oz.) linguine, uncooked
2 pkg. (6 oz. each) Grilled Chicken Breast Strips (Like Oscar Myer or Tyson)
1/4 cup Italian Dressing
1 cup Shredded Parmesan Cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 clove garlic, minced

COOK pasta in large saucepan as directed on package; drain. Return to pan.
ADD remaining ingredients; toss lightly.

I serve it with a mixed green salad and french bread. It's SO easy and makes awesome leftovers.

Taya's first tea

This afternoon Taya, my dad, and I went to a bed and breakfast to have a tea party. We had special tea with flowers in the cup, iced tea, (taya had milk) 4 different kinds of little sandwiches, truffles, chocolate dipped strawberries, homemade gingerbread, and scones. Taya actually did pretty well! Well, better than I expected anyway ;) Here are some pics!



Forget the cup.... haha



Being a big girl and pouring it by herself! (Although she did spill twice....)


Trying to decide what to eat first...



She kept wanting me to be in a pic with her...


Love her happy face!



Playing with the "lipstick" chess set. (It really was made out of lipstick with jeweled cases)

Taya day!

Yay! Today I get to spend ALL day with my sweet Taya and I can't wait. I have been SO busy with work lately and have been feeling guilty that I haven't been spending enough time with her. (I have been spending every extra minute with her, but it's just not the same as it used to be...)

We don't have much planned, but at 4 we are going to tea with my dad (papa chuck) and one of his customers. Should be interesting to see how Taya handles tea and scones! I hope I remember to take my camera.... The pic above is one I took right after she woke up from her nap and I just love it---she looks so cuddley!

Tired....

The Parade of Homes WEARS me out, so instead of a regular blog today, I am posting this:

YOUR AGE BY EATING OUT

Don't tell me your age; you probably would tell a falsehood anyway-but your waiter may know! YOUR AGE BY DINER & RESTAURANT MATHThis is pretty neat.DON'T CHEAT BY SCROLLING DOWN FIRST!It takes less than a minute .

Work this out as you read ...Be sure you don't read the bottom until you've worked it out!This is not one of those waste of time things, it's fun.

1. First of all, pick the number of times a week that you would like to go out to eat. (more than once but less than 10)

2. Multiply this number by 2 (just to be bold)

3. Add 5

4. Multiply it by 50

5. If you have already had your birthday this year add 1757 .....If you haven't, add 1756.

6. Now subtract the four digit year that you were born.


You should have a three digit number The first digit of this was your original number (I.e., how! Many times you want to go out to restaurants in a week.)The next two numbers are YOUR AGE! (Oh YES, it is!!!!!)

THIS IS THE ONLY YEAR (2007) IT WILL EVER WORK, SO SPREAD IT AROUND WHILE IT LASTS

ENJOY YOUR WEEK!!! Kisses and loves <3

Parade of Homes....

This is the house I will be at from 10-6 today and tomorrow if anyone wants to come and visit :) Or even better, buy it! (For the record, I cannot stand the exterior color...)