Who's Your Mama?

As of late I've been having an identity crisis of sorts. Taylor has now decided that she and every other female on the planet besides me is "mama." Nowadays when you ask Taylor, "Where's mama?" She pats herself on the chest and very proudly says, "Mama!" She totally knows that Jody is Dada, and believe me when I say that we have worked with her a LOT on who's who around here. For some reason she still hasn't made the connection that I'm "mama," not her. Or anyone else for that matter; Stacy came by the other night and Taylor pats Stacy on the chest and says sweet as can be, "Mama!" Oh hell no! Not that I'm offended in the traditional sense, my response was more along the lines of, "Ok, if she's Mama, then why in the hell did I have to be pregnant for nine months? This is a bunch of crap!"

Nonetheless, she continues to grow and learn every day, she's almost got this walking thing down, she just has to gain a little confidence (aka - let go of the grown-up that she's been dragging around the house's finger), and REALLY learn to take her time and watch where she's going. We still take a lot of tumbles, and inevitably, when I blink for a split second, the kid's on her back or taking a face dive. In unrelated news, Taylor found my hair brushes tonight and decided to show me her mad hairstyling skills.

Taylor has discovered my drawer of hair brushes and hair accessories. At least she put down a deposit for the brushes - if you look very closely in the drawer you will see her Cinderella-head sippy cup.

Look! I can brush my hair all by myself (translation: I can damn near beat myself on the head with this brush hard enough to cause a concussion.)

Just because you keep pointing that thing at me does not mean I'm going to smile.

Oh, what the hell! I'm too cute to deprive the world of my happy face!

This Is Why I Haven't Been Posting.

Because we haven't had anything really post-worthy! I really had to scrounge today for some new pics just so that I could post something new. Taylor is still not walking completely on her own for more than a short distance, she's still throwing some wicked tantrums, and she's still not potty trained (not that we're trying, but I felt I needed a third item to sort of round out my rant). And sadly the few things we have been up to that would have made some fun little posts (i.e. - our baby free weekend and our weekend in Canadian), I have completely failed on bringing my camera. I do at least have a couple of interesting photos from yesterday's road trip courtesy of Danny Odle, for those of y'all who know my cous-in-law you'll totally not be surprised at the snaps he took. I promise to try and be more exciting, and to try and do a better job of documenting our adventures.

Yes, this is prime entertainment in our house - "spin the cat." No, not really - Alice just wants to remind us that she owns our asses by rubbing her ass on our clean clothes.

Taylor has discovered the beauty of TV lounging.

Jody titled this one, "Pocket Ninja Bear." I'll let you figure that one out.

Playing in the bounce house with Aunt Cella and Aunt Nita. Again, thanks Danny for the pics since mother of the year here forgot her camera.

...And this is what you get when entrusting the photography of your child's milestones to Danny Odle. I cannot wait til they have kids.

How About a Pony?

Because we're awesome parents, Jody and I waited (i.e.-forgot) until after Taylor's party to buy her birthday present. Plus, we wanted to be able to take her with us to the toy store to pick out whatever she wanted. Well, what Taylor wanted was this $4 bobble-head Shrek sucker/hammer. I call it a hammer because it "giggles" when you shake it, and the mechanism that allows that to happen makes Shrek look like his head is changing into a hammer. Plus, Taylor got excited the other day and whacked me with it across the eye, and believe me, calling it a hammer isn't too far off from the truth. Anyhoo, back on track. So, after finding Shrek and wandering through Toys R Us for about an hour I finally had an epiphany. What does everylittle girl want? A pony! So we found her a fabulous rocking horse that not only rocks, but bounces. Just what every kid needs. This is the best pony ever, especially since we don't have to feed it or clean up its poo!

Taylor lovin' on her Shrek hammer.

Sprawled out with Mommy. Patiently waiting for Daddy to assemble the pony.

Yeehaw! This is her new TV watching station. Or could you not tell by the spaced out expression?

Happy Birthday!

It's official - my baby is a year old :*( You don't believe people when they tell you that it goes by so fast, especially when you're in the middle of a zombie-inducing stretch of colic/reflux nonstop crying, but it truly does. We have been through so much this year (reflux, ear infections, glasses, moving, learning how to be parents etc.), and I feel that Jody and I have come a loooooong way from the two idiots that we were before I found out I was pregnant. We have been blessed so greatly to have such a beautiful daughter, and I can't wait to watch her continue to learn and grow in the years to come.

As for updates, Taylor now has 5 teeth, 3 on top, 2 on bottom; and it appears that at least one more on top is currently in the works of moving in too. She is getting much braver walking on her own, and will often let go of whatever she's using for balance and take a few steps toward where it is she's wanting to go. Only downfall is that she is still taking "trust falls" by arching her back and falling straight back to be sure that we'll still catch her. Taylor is saying several words, the main ones being "cat" and "Thumper." For those of you out of the loop, Thumper is her security blanket - we didn't just teach her that one randomly ;) We aren't going to be able to get her in to the pediatrician for her one year check up until early August, so unfortunately I don't have any size stats, all I can say is that she is heavy enough that my back starts talking to me if I carry her around too long in a day! She has also mastered the art of throwing a fit, and some days Jody and I wonder if the terrible twos have come early.

In honor of our little girl's first year, here's a montage of some of my favorite pics from this last year, enjoy!

First family photo. Pay no attention to the barf pan next to Mommy.

And so it begins. I'm pretty sure this was the exact moment that Taylor got Jody wrapped around her finger.

Aaah, the joys of colic and reflux.

Why did no one tell me sooner that the bows were supposed to be cocked to the side? Poor baby looks like a fruit basket.

Cutest baby ever!

The beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Taylor's twin.

Tummy time!

Early visits to the high chair, back when she would actually eat vegetables.

Happy girl

I was so sad when she was old enough to roll over and sleep on her tummy.

My little diva.

Monkey face/kissy face!

Playing on the bed with daddy.

First Birthday Party!!!!!!!!!

After weeks of planning (and a LOT of stress about making a birthday cake), we finally had Taylor's first birthday party this past Saturday. Unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate with our original plans of a laid back party in the backyard, so instead it was an "intimate" (i.e.-crowded) affair in our living room. A HUGE thanks to everyone who helped me get this shindig together, and a big thank you to everyone who weathered the rain to come over and make Taylor's first birthday such a special event.

Woohoo! I actually made this cake! After days of stressing over it, I have to say I'm happy with how it turned out.

My cookies on the other hand didn't look as pretty. Oh well, at least no one can question that they were home-made.

Party table

That's right, I'm a rockstar. Eat your heart out Shiloh Jolie-Pitt.

Happy family! Yeah, how sad is it that Taylor's giant noggin looks like it might be the same size as mine?

See? I told you we throw some crazy parties! These three were just waiting to add a lampshade to their look.

Opening up the presents. Note the super-fancy rug (aka - furniture protector that we stole from the movers).

For the love of god quit singing and FEED ME!!!!!

Nom-nom! Needless to say, cake was a big hit!

Cindy Lou Who

After receiving her first haircut today, I decided to see if Taylor's hair was long enough to go into something that would at least resemble pigtails. As you can see, we ended up with antlers instead. Oh well, beggers can't be choosy!

Yeah, why does my kid always look like a Who whenever we try and fix her hair?

Cindy Lou Who

First Haricut

Well, today I finally caved to Jody's ribbings about our child having a mullet. In truth, it was not a mullet at all, but more of a rat-tail type of style. Anyhoo, poor Taylor's hair, now that it's finally started coming in, was definitely looking as if it had never been touched by scissors. I must admit, I've been reluctant to even trim it a little because we have waited so long just for her to have the little bit of hair that she has, it seemed a little ungrateful to start chopping on it so soon. But, it grows back, right? So today after she finished her lunch we decided it was time to bust out the home-haircut kit (no assholes, I don't have a flo-bee), and see what we could do. Needless to say, it was a mission that had to be carried out very quickly, and with at least some precision so that she didn't look like Van Gogh afterward. Fortunately, we managed to even up (sort of) her hair with no injuries, and even managed to recover most of the clippings for the scrapbook.

Yeah, see how blurry she is? That's because she would NOT sit still at all.

Looking to Thumper (her security blanket) for moral support.

Ok, this isn't so terrible.

All done! Now let me comb your hair Dad!