Taylor loves boiled eggs!! (but she only eats the white and throws away the egg yolk) I asked her what she wanted for breakfast on her birthday, and of course, she said, "EEEGG!" She ate them while wearing only my apron and her socks and shoes.
Another angle to give you the full effect.
As she ate, I finished decorating her birthday cake.
Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! is one of Taylor's favorite cartoons. I got the recipe for this cake here. Just don't look too closely at the cake; I did a horrible job of piping the outline. (I shouldn't have listened to the recipe when it said to cut a larger hole in the ziploc bag to do the outline.) I used chocolate cake mix instead of pound cake because, well, it's my favorite and since Taylor never eats the cake anyway (surprising for a little kid, I know!... she would much rather have ice cream), I figured I would make what I wanted.. haha
She was very excited about the cake though! She said, "I like him. I like his eyes..and his nose.. and his hands.." haha
After I finished the cake, we got ready for a day of celebration! Jared took off half a day of work, so we met up with him at the mall and took Taylor to Build-A-Bear workshop. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera. (I did take some pictures with my phone camera but I don't have a cord to hook it up to my computer yet). At first, she didn't understand and was insistent that she get one of the already stuffed animals, but she picked out a bunny rabbit that she loved and was fairly patient about waiting her turn in line although she had to stand right up front to see what everyone else was doing. When it was her turn, she picked out a heart, and the lady told her to rub it in her hands to make it warm, rub it on her forehead to make it smart, rub it on her stomach so it never gets hungry, etc. I figured she would just stand there and look at the lady, but she actually did everything she told her to do. We picked out some clothes and asked her what she wanted to name it. She said, "Bunny!" So, we said, "What do you want to name the bunny?" and she said, "Bunny Mommy!" haha My grandfather had sent the girls some money for Christmas, so we let Taylor pay for the bunny herself with the money he sent. She enjoyed getting to hand the cashier the money. We put the clothes on the bunny after we left the store, and Taylor started saying, "I love him! I love him so much!!" haha... It was the cutest thing ever! I think she was very pleased with her first present of the day.
After we left the mall, we headed to Chuck E. Cheese where we met up with Grandma and our friends, the Forbes.
The girls had a blast playing the games. I think Taylor mostly liked the "money." Her favorite game was where you just stick the tokens in, and it tries to knock off more tokens and then gives you tickets.... she went through tokens like crazy on that, and she also liked the game where you punch the ducks and try to knock them over. She wanted to do it all by herself, but the problem was it made you wait a couple of seconds after a punch before you could punch again, so if you missed one punch, you could be off on every single punch after that. I kept trying to help her so she could earn more tickets, but she didn't like that too much ;-)
Taylor loves her cousins, but other than them, her best friend is Megan. They are about six months apart, and they get along so well. It helps that Megan is very laid back, so their personalities don't clash ;-)
We took a break from playing games to enjoy some pizza. Taylor was informing Jared that this piece of pizza was too hot.
Miranda's younger sister was in town and was sweet enough to take pictures for us, so I actually happen to be in some of them! The Forbes got Taylor some dress up shoes, jewelry, and a feather boa. Jared and I got her a Disney Princess dress up chest, CareBears Nutcracker movie, and Merry Madagascar movie. Grandma got her the movies Up! and Snow White, a doll house, two dolls that talk and interact with each other, and a color wonder coloring book. Every time Taylor would open a present, she would say "Oh! Oh! Ohhhhh!" haha
I thought I had burned the outside of the cake a little bit because I used a different pan than normal, but it actually turned out to be quite yummy!
We invited Megan over for a slumber party. Jared and I were driving separate cars, so Bella went with me, and Taylor and Megan rode with Jared. He said they were "obnoxiously giggly" all the way home.. haha. I had to stop and get gas, so they made it home before I did. Jared's boss got him a little remote control helicopter for Christmas, so when I walked in the door, he was flying it around the living room, and the girls were chasing it and laughing hysterically- that is until the battery went low and Jared couldn't control it very well, and the helicopter flew into Taylor's eye.... yeah, she is still traumatized and runs out of the room screaming every time he gets it out.
When Taylor recovered, the girls watched the CareBears movie and ate popcorn. They were still really hyper and silly when we went to put them to bed, and we had to go back in the room and tell Taylor to get back in bed a few times (which really isn't anything different from our normal routine). Megan brought her sleeping bag to sleep on the floor.
When Bella woke up during the night, I thought I kept hearing something, and after I got done feeding her, I went and stood at Taylor's door. I heard some very faint crying, so I opened the door, and it was Megan crying. I sat down next to her and asked what was wrong. She said, "I just want to go home." I asked her what was the matter, and she said, "I'm just having horrible trouble sleeping." (I think this was Megan's first sleepover with a friend.) I asked if she would like to sleep in Taylor's bed because Taylor ended up falling asleep on the floor next to her. She didn't realize Taylor was on the floor and said, "I don't want to wake Taylor up." She's such a sweet girl! I told her it was okay because Taylor was asleep on the floor, so she got up in the bed, and then I turned on the closet light so it wouldn't be quite so dark in the room. I told her if she needed us she could come to our room and get us.
Jared got up when the girls woke up in the morning and let me sleep a little longer. When I woke up, this is how I was greeted.
I think Megan was feeling much better and ended up enjoying the sleepover after all. Her mom tells me that she keeps asking when they're going to do it again!
Here's Taylor playing with the dollhouse from Grandma while wearing her Snow White outfit.
The following are some miscellaneous pictures of her:
She has become quite obsessed with taking pictures of her tongue. She loves to get my camera and take pictures, and I'll find a million up close pictures of every toy she has and pictures of herself sticking out her tongue.
Just like her daddy.... he likes to stick out his tongue in pictures as well.
See what I mean?
The 2nd week of December was visitor's week at dance. I was so excited because we don't get to watch her at dance. There's not a window to look through or anything.
This is her teacher, Ms. Abbey.
She started out really well but a little timid. Then, she saw me holding my camera taking the video and pretty much refused to do anything.... I was not too happy!! So, she came and sat with us for a few minutes--- she wasn't the only kid that had some problems and got stage fright. I think we bribed her with some gum, and she went back out when they started doing forward rolls. Hopefully the actual recital at the end of the year will go a little better.
Our friends Savanna & Dave; Savanna was my roommate in Tuscaloosa for a short time before I graduated and got married; Taylor had a huge crush on Dave. They ended up moving back to Arizona back in the fall, so we were all very sad!
Taylor wearing her nightgown with her hat, shoes, and purse- so fashionable! Love this hat from her Aunt Mimi!
Taylor with some of her favorite stuffed animals and dolls
Yet another wonderful outfit- I can't wait until she goes to school and demands to pick out her own outfits ;-) The jacket is actually her cousin Natedogg's that he left at our house one day. She claimed it as her own, so I had to sneak it back to them. She's also wearing some lovely swim shoes.
This is what I wear when I clean house, too... haha j/k I hope she is this enthusiastic about cleaning when she gets older and can actually help without making a bigger mess in the process.
I think this was our first snow of the year.... first not only which is usually the case here in Alabama. We have had so much snow this year... more than I ever remember in my whole life!
Whew! So glad I finally finished this post almost two months after starting it!! So much that I need to catch up on. Bella has gotten so much bigger, and I need to update on her as well... hopefully that will come soon!
