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Easter weekend roadtrip

This weekend Taylor and I made a quick trip down to Birmingham so I could host my sister’s bridal shower and spend some time with my beloved Blackwell family. It was a super-short visit, with T and I getting into town around noon on Friday and then coming back home yesterday morning. But even though we were in town for less than 48 hours, I am amazed with everything we got done and were able to do: Shopping, house warming party, bridal portraits, wedding shower. Being Lib’s only sister and Matron of Honor – Man, that makes me sound OLD! – I had been prepping for her bridal shower for months, and after wrapping up all the last minute details Friday afternoon, picking up the food on Saturday morning and then setting up, I was obviously elated to have all my planning come to head and be able to throw her one awesome party. And I think she had a lot of fun too. And you’ll have to check her blog for some images of the event, as I was too busy drinking champagne and trying to keep Taylor from opening all of her presents to take pictures. But just trust me, it was a good time.

And after the party was over and all of her lavish gifts were loaded into her and Dirk’s new, fancy house, we had just enough time to rehash the day over a bottle of wine and get a good night’s sleep before I had to take off again. So it was a whirlwind of a visit. But it was a lot of fun. And here are a few of the pictures I got of the trip:

And after making the nearly six-hour drive back yesterday, Taylor and I jumped out of the car and changed into our Easter threads to celebrate the afternoon with Chris, who had spent the morning calling me every five seconds, Where are you at? Are you almost home? Hurry up!, and he also helped the Easter Bunny hide some treats for our girl. And while last year she was too little to grasp to concept of hunting for eggs and presents, this year she mastered the art of collecting candy and toys in her basket. Oh, and she was super cute about it too, which was probably a direct result of the amount of jelly beans she consumed.

Taylor’s first-ever golf lesson:

So, as you can see, it was an action-packed weekend, and with Chris’s family coming into town this Thursday and Miss Thang’s big birthday on Saturday, I am expecting the Famous Amys family to be riding a wicked, sugar-filled, party high this week and weekend as well. Stay tuned.

Itsy bitsy spider, the remix version

Our new favorite park

Asheville boasts a fantastic number of city parks and recreation centers that all exist within a fifteen-minute drive from our front door. Which has always been an awesome feature of this city, but even more so this spring as Taylor has finally reached an age where she can just tear into the park equipment by herself, and I’m not holding her hand and guiding her through the steps, slides and swings. And other then the bizarre 40-degree, 90-minute snowstorm we had Monday, the weather has been just gorgeous out. So we have been taking advantage of any chance to be outside and enjoy the sunshing. And the other day our outside time included a picnic at the park with Paige and Elliot.

And while we and the Scully girls have been to lots of parks together, it was the first time we had ever staged a Taylor-Elliot play date at Avery’s Corner, a park in the Woodfin area. My friend Kelley told me about the new-to-us park a few weeks ago, and after three visits T and I are hooked. Unlike the wooden playground equipment that most parks hold, Avery’s Corner is full of gigantic, plastic Little Tykes-style castles and play-yards. And the ground is covered in a thick, blue, bouncy rubber which somehow makes it almost impossible for kids to fall and hurt themselves on. It’s pretty much the coolest park we’ve ever been to.

And Taylor and Elliot went absolutely bananas while playing there together. It wasn’t that crowded, which helped allow them to hog all of the equipment.

And T’s most favorite part of the park has to be climbing the plastic-rock wall. The first time she scurried up it I just sat there, dumb-faced and totally shocked that, 1. She even knew what it was, and 2. She could pull those thunder thighs up that wall with such grace. It was amazing. And every time we go she keeps getting better and better at it. And that makes me super-proud of her.

Good job, sweetheart.

I scream, you scream

So we decided to live life dangerously last night, shake up the routine and gave Taylor an ice cream cone after dinner. She had been such a good, non-tantrum-throwing little peanut the past few days, and the levels of cuteness she was spewing at us during our meal was above and beyond, so we rewarded her with some sugary goodness. And while it was no where near the first time T has enjoyed ice cream, it was the first time her precious treat was served to her in a CONE. And here’s how it shook out:

I know, I know. That’s HILARIOUS. That’s our life. THIS is why I could care less when a new brewery, bar or restaurant opens up downtown – THIS is our entertainment.

And just so I don’t get a call from either of Taylor’s grandmothers in the next day, scolding me for torturing their precious grandbaby, Here’s how we ended the night:

Sweetness.

Taylor’s got a boyfriend

Since I am lucky enough to be able to stay at home with Taylor fulltime, the only structured social-time T gets, other than play dates and visits to the park, is when we go to the Y and I work-out and she goes to Child Watch. And because she does so well with all the other kids and ladies that work there – and not to mention swimsuit season is just around the corner – the two of us hit-up the Y at least five or six times a week, for roughly an hour each time. So we’re there a lot. And because we’re there so much, we’ve naturally become friends with other stay-at-home-moms who frequently workout and their kids.

And one of our new friends that we made at the Y is Kelley and her two sons, Josiah and Oliver. Taylor is one month older than Josiah, and Oliver just turned seven months old. And since Kelley shares in my strong belief of healthy body/healthy mind, not to mention the importance of taking a daily, one-hour break from 24/7-mothering, we have synched our workouts, causing Taylor and Josiah and Oliver to see quite a bit of each other throughout the week. And I’m not gonna say it was love at first sight for our little girl and Kelley’s oldest – in fact, for a good month she favored baby Oliver, and would chirp out his name, Oly-burr! Oly-burr! whenever she saw him. But lately she’s been all about Josiah, or as she calls him, Jo-Jo-SIAH! She squeals when she sees him, tries to hold his hand and just basically looses her marbles when she’s around him. And he does the same. And Kelley and her husband and Chris and I all joke that they’re boyfriend and girlfriend. That their a teeny-tiny toddler couple. And it’s pretty adorable.

And while it is just a sweet joke we all laugh about, inside I know that Chris’s chest muscles are flinching at the thought of his baby girl actually growing up and dating someday. Just ask him about it – He gets all jumpy and serious-faced. He’s scared to death of it. Chris doesn’t have a sister, so he has no idea of the torture that is going to come with living with a teenage girl. No idea. I almost feel sorry for him, and I’m pretty sure he’s going to make the same fumbles my own Dad did when I started getting interested in boys and say things like, So, you say that you and so-and-so are GOING out? What does that mean? WHERE are you going?

Well. The fact that one day Chris will practice speeches and flex his muscles in front of teenage boys trying to date his daughter is not even applicable here, as Josiah is only 22-months old and super-good kid. We love him. And a couple weeks ago at Child Watch, another kid was bugging Taylor and trying to take a toy from her, and Josiah totally jumped in and took the toy from the other kid and gave it back to T. He basically defended her honor. And not only is he a sweetheart, but he’s got the best, most-infection laugh you have ever heard.

And as far as going places together, Kelley was nice enough to let Taylor and I use one of her Biltmore Estate guest passes yesterday for a day of fanciness on the grounds. The weather was absolutely perfect out – 65-degrees and clear, Carolina blue skies – and to make the adventure even more fun, we dressed our little-ones up like catalog models.

And if you’re from the Southeast you may be familiar with the Biltmore Estate housing George Vanderbilt’s gigantic vacation mansion, which is touted as America’s largest home, and it’s surrounding gardens, vineyards and stables. It’s gigantic and a huge deal around here, as it attracts lots of tourists and provides a great resource to locals. And even though I’ve been through the house twice, I had never spent much time at the farm section until yesterday. And it was a perfect place for two, love-sick, rowdy toddlers to spend the morning.

First thing they did, of course, was jump around in the mud and get dirty. Typical.

The actual farm consisted of different old-time tractors and farm equipment, and classic toys and games. When I was younger, we took a field-trip to Living History Farms in Des Moines, and this was a lot like that. But watching it through Taylor and Josiah’s eyes was WAY more fun than any memories I had from the fifth-grade.

Taylor’s first phone-call with a boy:

And next to the farm was an actual petting zoo, complete with horses, goats, sheep and chickens. All of which Taylor wanted absolutely nothing to do with. Sorry, Papa Don! She’s a city girl at heart.

And after exploring the farm, we treated ourselves to a fancy lunch at a new restaurant in the village. And I can’t even believe how good all of our kids were, which might have had something to do with Kelley’s endless supply of treats. We finished lunch, enjoyed the spring weather and watched the happy couple frolic through the village, bellies full and enjoying their pre-nap energy surge.

I mean, Seriously, Y’all. Is that not one of the cutest thing you have ever seen? It even made Chris go, Awe. THAT’s adorable.

I wonder if he’ll think that when she’s fifteen?

My little bookworm

When I was pregnant with Taylor I was unable to make it back up north for any family baby showers. And instead of trying to put something together after she was born, I decided that rather than a traditional off-the-registry shower with the Amys family, we opted for a book shower, wherein all of Chris’s extended family chose their favorite children’s book, attached a picture and a personalized message in the front cover and mailed it to us. And what a good idea! Of course we got a few duplicates of some of the classics, but the number of books we were gifted was just amazing. And looking back, I am so happy I have all of these tailored, literary treasures instead of some cute outfit she would have outgrown in two months. And with the large number of our generous Amys relatives, our little princess was the proud owner of a virtual library before she was even born.

And even from an early age, Taylor has always been super-excited about her books. As a newborn, she would paw at the colorful illustrations and drool on the pages. Getting a bit more mature, she would let me read them to her while she batted at the pictures and squealed at the characters she recognized. And after we ditched the bottle at the end of last year, we replaced her nighttime feeding with before-bed books and snuggles. And recently she has become so enthusiastic about her books, helping me turn the pages and literally soaking up every bit of what I read to her. It’s amazing. If you hand her a book that she’s familiar with, she’ll sit down and read it out loud, purring little bits of the story that she’s memorized from when we’ve read it together. Like this morning when I spied on her in her room, sitting in her teeny-tiny armchair with Green Eggs and Ham open on her lap, waving her hands in the air saying, No, Sam, No! No eggs and ham! I mean, How precious is that?

And while I’m totally proud of my little reader, I’m not at all surprised by her love of books considering, as my sister puts it, “Bookwormishness runs in the family.” Not with ME so much, in that unless it’s between the covers of a People magazine or is written by David Sedaris, I’m less likely to break my neck to read it. But my Mom and my sister, however, are obsessive readers, with each one of them owning book collections that rival some local libraries. If you ever need a suggestion about what to read, ask either of them. If you ever need to know any recent celebrity gossip, however, I’m your gal.

So we’ve got ourselves a bookworm on our hands, and because we’ve come close to exhausting our own children’s book collection, I decided to take my little girl to the library a few days ago to check-out and bring home with us some new adventures. And after the Clifford-debacle last week, I made extra sure that this time we wouldn’t be interrupted by any giant red monsters, and that we would also be there at time that the facility would be fairly empty. And, seriously y’all, if you could have seen Taylor’s face when she realized that there were actual books on the shelves and that, Get this!, you can take them down and READ THEM. It was like letting Ruby loose in a bacon store, she didn’t know where to go first. And after pulling a few, glossy hardbacks down from their resting places, she made herself comfortable and started flipping through her new treasures.

Ah, my little peanut. Every day she makes my heart smile. Call me Obsessed, if you want. I just call myself proud.