Taylor turns Four

Taylor is now a four year old. Just take a moment to process that. I started this blog in 2008 right before she was born, and most of you have been reading it since its beginning. Which means y’all have virtually known my daughter since the day her eight pound, nineteen-and-a-half inch body entered this world. And that was FOUR years ago. That’s a long time, folks. That’s the total amount of time you spent in high school or college. Think about how much you changed from the beginning to end of those journeys. And look how much this little peanut has grown since I gave birth to her four years ago.

 Ah. Those CHEEKS! We still got a bit of them left, but she’s really starting to lean out and grow into a real person. Gone is the squishy baby whose cheeks would hand below her chin and arms looked like they were bound with rubber bands. And while Luke’s face is super kissable, there is no comparison to Taylor’s baby-face. I pretty much smooched those delicious cheeks away.

And her personality has grown so much this past year as well. Three was a good year for Taylor. She became a big sister, she started school and she really blossomed into the caring, sweet little Miss that she is. I always pictured her being a bit of a diva, and while she still is a girly-twirly-pink-princess, she is sensitive and kind and funny and charming. She is a fantastic sharer-of-toys with her friends, a super tolerant big sister to a silly brother who is always on top of her and a well-behaved little person who listens well and is eager to help me and Chris as needed. She is perfect. And I am so lucky to get to spend everyday with this lovely girl and bask in her adorableness, and Chris and I are beyond thankful that she is our daughter.

So for such a precious girl, we had to make her birthday pretty special, right? And the day began with Chris and I sneaking in some balloons into the nursery to surprise her. And the awesome reaction was enough to solidify it as a tradition from here out:  Wake up to balloons on your birthday.

And my four year old was thrilled to be able to celebrate with her Yaya and Papa. It truly made her day that much more wonderful to have them here to give her birthday hugs and spend the day with her and watch her open their presents to her.

Oh yes. Of course there were lots of presents. Chris and I were pretty adamant to not buy her anymore plastic Princess junk that eventually ends up at the bottom of the toy chest. And since the weather is warming and we prefer to all be outside together, we got Taylor her first real-bike for her birthday. And she loved it.

A PRINCESS Huffy that has a attachable little carriage so she can ride with her dolls. Chris wanted to get her a normal, no-theme bike that Luke could possibly ride one day, but we knew she would prefer the pink, glittery one. Sorry, Luke.

So, as you can see, it was a wonderful day. And since Miss Taylor was born at 9.29 in the evening, all day long Chris and I would check the clock and announce, Four years ago RIGHT NOW we were doing such-and-such. Yep, we’ve been parents for four years now, and may I say we’ve done a pretty awesome job. High fives and Woot-woots! to us. So far, so good, eh? And I have a sneaking suspicion it will only get better from here. 

An attempt to get a cute picture of my kids on Easter

I’m trying to capture memories here, children. Just look happy and try to synchronize your smiles. And remember:  YOU LOVE EACH OTHER! 

Hunting for Easter eggs and eating mass amounts of candy

So we only got a few days to sulk in our post-beach vacation hangovers before my parents flew into town to help us celebrate Easter and Taylor’s birthday. And with our skin still sun-kissed and sand still shaking out of our flip-flops, we picked up Papa and Yaya from the Asheville airport on Friday afternoon and brought them back to our house to watch them get attacked by their grandkids. Because after Luke and Taylor spent two weeks with their Grampy and Grandma, my kids were itching to find another set of overly-nice relatives to play with, buy them gifts and not say the word, No! to them. And Papa and Yaya did not disappoint.

And I was also happy to have family in town to help us celebrate Easter and participate in both egg-hunts. It’s always nice to have my parents visit, but even more special when they can share in and observe a holiday with my kids. And Taylor was all-about searching out Easter eggs this year. And Luke was all-about conquering his first Easter basket.

Oh yes. It was a wonderful weekend and a great pre-party to the birthday palooza that next week will hold. Someone turns FOUR and the other turns ONE. Lots and lots of sugar and smiles will be involved.

The highlight-reel. Our 2012 spring break adventure, The finale.

So we got back to Asheville after our two weeks of bliss at the beach and just stood there blinking at each other in realization of us getting slapped in the face by reality. No more sandy strolls, no more mid-morning swims, no more three-o'clock bloody mary's and no more grandparents around to help us wrangle our kids. Ugh… Vacation hangover.

 And after getting everything unpacked and our house put back together, I went to download all my edited pictures that I had worked on at the beach on Sue's laptop and the disc was blank. Meaning I had to go back through all 700-plus pictures I had snapped and re-edit them down to 300 or so. And while this was very annoying because it was so time consuming, it was also nice to look back at all the wonderfulness that was our spring break. And here are a few of my favorites:

It was an amazing two weeks, and a beach vacation that none of us will ever forget. And I have to show my deep appreciation to Greg and Sue for allowing us to stay with them for the full two weeks. The Universe was kind enough to let me fall in love with a man who's parents are as generous as they are helpful and kind, and I am truly grateful to have them in my life. Thank you, thank you. It was a fabulous adventure, and I hope we behaved well enough to be invited next year.

He's baaack. Our 2012 spring break adventure, Part 9

Guess who flew back down to the beach yesterday?

Yep… Dad's back. And we are all pretty excited to have him here to enjoy our final days in paradise.