Hiatus?

So if the last break was a furlough, this one has been a hiatus. Life has been getting in the way of blogging and try as we might, at the end of the day, after doing everything there is to do in a household with two small children and two parents working outside of the home, there's only enough energy to fall into bed and slip into a comatose state only to inevitably be woken from said state by a crying, hungry baby or a sad two-year-old.





With that said, please head to flickr to find the a batch of pictures to catch you up since our last blog WAY back in October...but we've only had time to upload pictures up to Thanksgiving. Stay tuned and hopefully we'll have time during the rest of the holiday break to fully catch you up.





Lotsa love! Taylor and Leighton

Furlow

It's not that we don' t want to blog, it's that we just. don't. have. time. Ugh ugh, double ugh. So we're doing a quickie here just to quiet some critics (*cough Papa Steve cough*) that have pointed out the lack of blogging.


So, here we are enjoying some leisure time on Mom and Dad's bed. I make sure that Leighton and I have everything we need to hang out there. For me that means a blanket, water, nummies (three to be exact, one for my mouth and one for each hand), and Ozzie, by monkey friend you see in the picture. I also make sure Leighton has what he needs. That means I bring in his whole basket of toys and dump them on the bed. Mom doesn't find it amusing. Strange, I think it's great fun.


Leighton has decided that he likes cereal now. Sometimes. He's got to be in just the right mood and have adequate rest to actually eat it. This happens about 60% of the times that Mom tries to feed him. On this day he was quite fond of his food and liked having me feed him.



Our cousin Kerstin who lives far far far far away in Germany sent this t-shirt for Leighton. "Ich War's Nicht"=It Wasn't Me! We love it! Thanks Kerstin!!! She also sent lots and lots of books for me and Mom and I have had oodles of fun reading them. It pays to have family in the children's book business. (Kerstin is really smart and helps to translate books from English to German.)



Annie get your gun! Here I am at a restaurant trying out the Big Buck Hunter game in the dress I wore for our family pictures.



Go Big Red!!!! Here is Leighton's impression of Lil' Red.



Alright, I hope this post will quiet our critics. It's time to go get some shuteye now. Never enough of that around here.

Peace out,
Taylor and Leighton

Hi friends! Life continues to be pretty busy around our house. We're taking advantage of the last nice outside days and also getting into the offerings that fall brings. Last weekend Mom, Leighton Grandma Trish and I visited Aamodt's Apple Farm in Stillwater. It was so much fun!!! I got to ride on John Deere trikes and riding toys, feed the farm animals, ride a pony and pick apples all by myself! I didn't even need a ladder because they grow short trees just the right size for 2-year-olds! Leighton slept in the baby carrier the whole time we were there. Mom says he might enjoy the apple orchard more next year. We got to pick my dad's favorite kind of apples-Honeycrisp. We brought home about 12 pounds of them-yummy!

We've been cheering on the Nebraska Cornhuskers when we get the chance. I'd show you pictures of that, but they're on Dad's camera and I don't have a cord at my house to download them. I'll have to work something out with Dad.

Yesterday the weather was looking a little iffy, so Mom took Leighton and me to Lookout Ridge indoor park in Woodbury. Mom and I played and climbed for over and hour and a half. We got very tired! Dad met us there when he got back into town from his trip to Des Moines with Buddy Cooney. They went to see Dave Matthews Band-a rockin' good time from what I've heard.

Leighton started his Early Childhood Family Education classes with Mom last Tuesday. When they go to class, I get to have special Daddy and me time. Last week he took me to the park by the airport. I love that park! I can't wait to see what he's got in store for me this week.

On Wednesday nights I go to my dance class. I've had some issues with separating from Mom and Dad and joining my class, but I'm doing better every week. I'm going to get some noisy tap shoes like the other kids, and then maybe I'll really be ready to join the group and do some serious dancing.

When Papa Steve was up for a visit (the same weekend Grandma took us to the apple orchard), Mom and I went to dinner with him and Papa Boots. Here's a fantastic picture of me and the papas.

Mom and Dad found out from the doctor that since Leighton is four months old and so gigantic (19 pounds 2 ounces!!!!) that he can start eating rice cereal. But guess what!!! He didn't like it. Can you even believe it?!?!? I gobbled that stuff up and never looked back when Mom and Dad first fed it to me. That Leighton Boy, I don't know about him...

Leighton's other milestones:

Last weekend he rolled over for the first time from his front to his back. He rolled again on Thursday from his back to his front, but nobody was actually in the room to witness it. All we know is when he was left on the floor it was on his back and when Mom came back in the room after putting me in bed, he was on his stomach. Crying. Stuck between a pillow and a TV tray...oops.

On Friday Leighton FINALLY popped his first tooth. All that crying and working his tongue and drooling and sucking on people's fingers finally paid off. When we can pry his mouth open and get his tongue jammed back so the tooth is showing, I'll get you a picture of it. Until then, enjoy this nice shot of his tongue:

I guess that's all for now. Oh!! I almost forgot the big news-tomorrow Leighton gets to start going to daycare with me. I'm really happy but the happiest people are Mom and Dad. No more driving to two daycares for drop off and pickup. Woot woot!!!

Well folks, have a great week. Enjoy the weather and the Honeycrisps!

Taylor and Leighton

Argh Blogger.

We're still having trouble getting Blogger to make a nice blog for us. Every time we try to load pictures, they're all caddywompus (wow...how do you spell that?) on the page instead of in a nice neat line. So until we get that figured out, head over to flickr.

Leighton and Taylor

Family Fun Priorities

Sorry for the lack of posting lately. Mommy loaned her camera out and has been without a camera for two weeks now. Hopefully we'll get it back soon. Mommy also went back to work last week so the time leading up to that was filled with lots and lots of fun times, all of which we'll tell you about soon. Hopefully. ;-) This weekend we're concentrating on family fun as last week was hectic with Mom's return to work and some late nights and traveling for Daddy's work.

Peace out!
Taylor and Leighton

Blogger, in true Blogger form (argh) is experiencing technical difficulties in the past couple days. We are unable to give you an aesthetically pleasing blog post, so please proceed to our flickr site for pictures detailing our latest adventures. Here we will provide you with the narrative rundown of what we've been up to...



We had the annual family reunion at Papa Owie's house a few weekends ago. It was a fun time, with lots of playing outside with extended family, but we were only able to stay for part of the reunion. We left that Saturday to head a wedding in Owatanna and a reception in Waseca. The bride was Dani and her mom is my Grandma Trish's very good friend. Vernie comes to visit us when Grandma Trish is in town and she and I are really good friends. We had a super fun time at the wedding and the reception.



Mom got together with her friends from work at a real nice restaurant and brought Leighton and me with her. I was my usual 2-year-old self, but Mom's friends did a great job of keeping me busy. Especially that Ms. Adrienne-she and I have a special bond. Adrienne and I did lots of talking and book reading while the other ladies oohed and aahed over Leighton.



I've been to the pool most of the warm days. We're getting our monies worth out of our season passes. Gavin and his peeps have joined us a couple times and after we swim, we all head over to the park for a picnic and to play on the equipment. It's so much fun but since it all happens during the time leading up to nap time (a.k.a. The Witching Hour of Toddlerhood), things can get a bit dicey.



I've had two sleepovers at Grandma Jan and Papa Bob's in the last couple weeks. Grandma has had the Fridays off, so I've gotten to stay at their house on Thursday night. When Leighton gets bigger and doesn't need Mommy to fee him, he can come with me for sleepovers. I love sleepovers with Grandma and Papa. We do fun things like go out to eat, go watch airplanes on Post Road, go to the Mall of America and play in the basement. It sounds simple, but their basement is one of my favorite places in the world. Must be all the toys. Some are so old that Mom said SHE played with them as a child. Wow.



Mom, Grandma Jan, Leighton and I went on an adventure to a place called Roberts, Wisconsin after one of my sleepovers. We went there to visit Mommy's bestest goodest friend, Dre. They went to college together at University of Wisconsin-River Falls. Dre has a new baby named Simon LeRoy. He was due to be born the same day as Leighton, but as we all know, Leighton was born four weeks early, and then Simon was a week late, so they're actually five weeks apart in age. Mommy was so happy to see Dre. It had been way too long-over two years! They hadn't seen each other since I was a tiny baby. THAT is what having a child can do to a friendship. But Mommy and Dre have one of those friendships that never misses a beat, and you'd never know it had been so long. Grandma Jan had a great time too-Dre is a pseudo daughter for Grandma-see, Dre lived at Grandma and Papa's house one summer during the college years. Grandma Jan thought the craziest part was watching the moms nursing their new babies. She said "You girls have come a long way since your party days!" Oh Mommy!



We went on another adventure to Somerset, Wisconsin the very next day. This time we went to Nick, Lacy and Aiden's housewarming party. (Nick is Daddy's cousin, for those not familiar.) It was so fun! And bonus! My Gavin was there because his mommy works with Nick. I played and played and played with Anna-she's Nick's niece. There was a really really really big storm that night, and Anna and I hid at the bottom of the stairs because we heard that a TOMATO might be coming towards the house and Anna told me that those can kill you! (What I'm wondering now is why Mom keeps putting them in our food if they're so dangerous...)

My cousin Meggie had a birthday last week. She turned 10 years old! Our whole family is astonished that she's already that old. We went to Outback Steakhouse (Meg's favorite place to eat steak) and they all kept saying things like "Why I remember the day you were born like it was yesterday".

Last weekend I got to go to a very fun picnic with my daycare friends. Ms. Angela and Mr. Ray host an annual event at Lake Elmo Park Reserve where families can camp if they're so inclined (we passed on that this year because of Baby Leighton) and then everybody comes for a big picnic on Saturday afternoon. It was great fun! I got to do relay races and a three-legged race and a tug of war.

This week Mom took Leighton and I to the Children's Museum. I just love that place! I could play for hours and hours and days and days. Last time Leighton slept through the whole thing, but this time, since he's getting bigger and older and more awake, he got to look around at everything. Mom realized that next time she needs to bring a baby carrier since he didn't want to be in the stroller when he was awake.

There's just a week and a half left of our fun-filled time with Mommy. She goes back to work on August 31st. I'll be heading back to daycare at Angela and Ray's. Leighton will be going to Ms. Lisa's house for five weeks, until there is a baby spot open for him at Angela and Ray's. Mom and Dad were happy to find a good daycare on short notice that would take Leighton on a temporary basis.

Well, I'd better get to posting those pictures on flickr that I told you about. I do suppose I've written enough.

TTFN Friends!

Tater and Leighton Boy

Randomness

It seems Mom has been having a hard time taking care of us AND taking pictures of us. But we got ahold of her Sony Cybershot, dusted it off, hooked it up to the computer and found a couple pictures for you.

Here's Mr. Roundhead, a.k.a. Leighton. Seriously?!?! Oh but look at that smile! I could just eat him up.


I've been spending lots of time at the pool. Yesterday I wrapped up the second and last week of swim lessons. It was great fun and I did lots of practicing. We worked on back floats, front floats, bobs (not Papa, but the kind where you hold onto the side of the pool and "bob" your head underwater), tidal waves (holding onto the side of the pool and pushing the water over the side with your chest by pulling your arms in-great for arm strength according to my teacher Alicia), passing me back and forth from Mom to Alicia, rolling over from front to back (I'm not a fan of this one, just for the record) and scooping and kicking while swimming.

Thursday we stayed at the pool after lessons and my buddy Gavin joined us. He brought his mom, Liz and his baby sister, Faith along with him. Mom didn't get any pictures of Gavin and I swimming, but did catch this shot of me warming up with my doggy towel poolside.

The third and final new picture we found is this one of us kids with our daddy. Not a bad looking bunch, huh?

And now, the creme de la creme...a video of me dancing at Sam and Chad's wedding. I love to dance and what can I say but, I'm a natural!!

Take care friends!

Taylor and Leighton

Updates

Holy guacamole people! The update of all updates just in: Leighton went to the doctor yesterday for his 2-month check-up (a little late actually as he's already 11 weeks, or roughly 2.5 months) and he weighs a whopping 15 pounds and 8 ounces. His length (24 inches) is at the 75th percentile, his weight is at the 95th (up from about the 75th last time he was at the doc) and his head is in the gol darn 100th percentile! That kid sure has a melon on him! He is smiling a lot these days and even does a little talking once in a while. He stays awake a lot more than he used to which keeps Mommy very busy (and a bit crazed at times) during her days home with us. But Mommy knows that this too shall pass and she loves every minute she has with us.





As for me, well I'm just a big girl these days. After a vacation where I slept on a bed from which I could easily escape, I came home brave enough to try the same from my big high captains bed. And guess what? I can totally do it! So now when I don't want to nap, alls I gotta do is jump down and run around my room and move the footrest to the door so I can play with the light switch and jiggle the doorknob. I did this for an hour and a half during what should have been my nap time yesterday. Finally Mom got smart and said I didn't have to nap. I won! Or maybe not, because the trip to the park that was mentioned in exchange for my napping did not happen. Oops. Let's see...what else have I been up to...well a couple weeks ago I got to go to a wedding and I danced my fanny right off at the reception. Mom and Dad clocked me at about 45 minutes of dancing. I get to go to another wedding this weekend and I'm really excited to show off some new moves I've been working on.





I also got to go with the Behnkens for a vacation in Siren, Wisconsin. The weather was really cold and windy for the first four days, which made it seem pointless to be on a lake, but we made the best of it and did lots of playing in the cabin as well as outings to the nearby towns. When the weather did turn nice, we got to play on the beach, ride in a pontoon and go on Big Bertha, the inter tube that got pulled behind the pontoon.





Well, since life around here is still pretty hectic and blogger is still pretty slow to load pictures, you can get the picture part of this update over at our flickr site.



TTFN Blogosphere Buddies!

Taylor and Leighton

Head to Flickr

We've added some random pictures that haven't made the blog from the last couple weeks to our flickr site. Check 'em out.

Taylor and Leighton

Somewhere in Middle America

As some of you may already know, I recently enojoyed a trip to Omaha, Nebraska with Grandma Trish and Papa Steve. They came to Minnesota to see us (and to attend the annual Breast Cancer golf benefit in Rochester) and took me back to Nebraska with them. I got to stay there all week and have TONS of fun with them. Leighton had to stay at home with Mom and Dad. When he's bigger he can come with me on these fun trips.

I spent a lot of time in my bathing suits (all five of them, thanks to Grandma Trish's swimsuit shopping spree). We had sprinkler play in the yard, went to Craig and Jill's pool (Craig and Jill are Grandma and Papa's friends) and went to the pool at Grandma and Papa's country club.

Leighton, Mommy and Daddy came down to join us in Omaha halfway through my stay. Leighton got to come watch me swim, but he's too little to go in the pool.

Leighton enjoyed some leisure time with Papa...

And he also got to see Aunt Stephanie again AND meet our awesome Uncle Klayton for the first time. I learned a secret about Uncle Klayton...he's a PIRATE! Did you even know that boys?!?!

(Ok, maybe that was a joke. Maybe he just got something in his eye when he was golfing. Hehehe I tricked you!)

One night Mom, Dad, Grandma and Papa took me and Leighton to Village Point for live music and family fun. I got to get a balloon hat and play with this big ball fountain. Village Point isn't just a nice place to shop and go out to eat...remember when I was little and I went there to see a Christmas tree lighting?

Before we left town, we went out to breakfast with Mom and Dad's friends. Cory and Kristin were there. Tim and Tara were supposed to be there with all their kids-Peyton, Brylee and Morgan-but Tim kinda messed that one up. I heard the adults saying he went to the doghouse or something. He must have brought Peyton and Morgan with him because only Tara and Brylee came to breakfast. The boys were missed, but I had a great time playing with Brylee.

After a fantastic week in Omaha, it was time for the long trip home. Mom and Dad knew I wouldn't nap my usual 2.5 to 3 hours, but hoped for at least 1.5 hours. Boy did I surprise and astonish them when I only slept for 15 minutes of the 7 hour journey. That'll teach Mom to reward my potty accomplishments (yeah, that's right, I pooped at a gas station after Mom and Dad made a special stop at my request) with a Tootsie Pop. She should have listened to Dad when he told her to get me a toy for a reward.

TTFN,

Taylor (and Leighton)

We're still alive.

We're just too busy to blog. Sorry.

Taylor and Leighton

Busy Bees!

Since our last report, things have continued to be busy around our house. I had my last week of daycare last week and am now staying at home full time to help Mom with Leighton. Leighton is growing bigger and bigger. He stays awake more during the day which you would think would be a great thing so we can all play with him, but I've heard rumblings and grumblings from Mom and Dad. Something like "All he did was sleep the first four weeks, like he thought he was still in utero...now he's acting just like Taylor did! This could be a long few months if it's anything like it was with her..." You'll have to help me out here boys...what are Mom and Dad talking about? I think I'm a pretty darn good kid. Was I not always this way? Was something wrong with me when I was a teeny baby like Leighton? Well, I guess the bright side is that obviously I grew out of it, so he will too.

Well, you're probably here to see pictures, so I'd best get on with it.

On June 9th, Leighton turned one month old. Here he is celebrating with George in Dad's chair:

I'm on a tight schedule here, so we'll have to go with the detour for the rest of our pictures. Head over to flickr for more.

TTFN,

Taylor (and Leighton)

Trying to Keep Up...

As our dad would say: "Oh my oh my oh my." Two children may only be twice as many as one child, but the level of activity around here seems to have multiplied by much more than two. Especially when it comes to diaper duty. Do you people out there have any idea how much a new baby poops?!?! Just trying to keep up with his dirty diapers is enough to wear a big sister out. I like to help Mom and Dad by getting a clean diaper, opening the "medicine" (diaper rash cream) and then "washing" my hands with the hand sanitizer.

Life around here is so busy that I'm (obviously) not able to keep up with regular posting. And now that I have finally found time to post, I have to apologize for the lack of organization and flow to the post. To put it simply, it's just a bunch of random pictures thrown on the blogosphere. But I'm sure it will satisfy your curiosities just the same, even if the post does lack my usual unique and perfectionistic layout and writing style.

Oh, by the way. Mom and Dad and I took Leighton to the doctor today (because he finally caught the cold that the rest of us have had-no worries though-just a run of the mill cold and the doc gave Leighton some eye stuff to clear up the nasty eye, nasal drops for the nose, and Poop Goop for the diaper rash) and he weighs a whopping 10 pounds and 1 ounce!! Can you even believe the little porker?!?! To his defense, he would like me to clarify that the nurse left his diaper and clothing on so he may actually weigh a few ounces less than that. But still? Wow.

So, on with the pictures...

Mom loving on Leighton.

Leighton hanging out in his glider.

Leighton getting ready to go to the zoo in a cute monkey outfit. (Which he's already outgrown!)

Mom, Grandma Jan, Leighton and I went to the zoo with my daycare friends. It was super fun!!

Leighton had to borrow my sunglasses one day when he was hanging out in the sun rays. This was in his early days when he still had some jaundice and needed to sunbathe (in indirect sun of course) to get rid of it.

We call him "Lazy Leighton" because he likes to sleep. A lot.

I've found some time in all the craziness to play outside. I especially like to play with my bubble maker.

Grandma Trish came to visit us for a few days last week. One day we got to go to Lake Calhoun with Aunt Sue and Uncle Lars for a walk and a picnic. So much fun!

Sometimes I like to make funny faces to keep everyone laughing.

And if the funny faces don't work, there's always my wardrobe choices and moptop hair that I sometimes won't let my mommy tame.

Aunt Jenni likes to snuggle with Leighton. She says it almost makes her want to have another kid. But only almost.

Look at this strong boy and his Tummy Time Tricks! He can already lift his head up.

Leighton can't get his toys out by himself so I like to help him out by dumping them all on top of him. Aren't I just the most helpful helper?!?

Professional's Corner:

We visited the portrait studio to have some professional pics taken. I've got to say, we're a couple of good looking kids!!

I hope you enjoyed. I gotta run. The baby pooped again!

Taylor (and Leighton)