Thursday, February 27, 2014

The many faces of Hadleigh










I love these. 
They keep me laughing! 
This is a post of some from when Taryn was Hadleigh's age. 
Love those cheeks!

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

My two little girls





Some of my favorite pictures of these two girls from the past few months (some pre-potty training)
They were the shots that happened quickly and they show how much Taryn loves her little sister. Even though Taryn's eye's are closed in the first picture, it's still one of my favorites. Taryn is still one of the best when it comes to getting Hadleigh to smile. 

In honor of more snow, some silly Taryn pictures






All you need to look great is a cowboy hat, daddy's shoes, and princess undies.

Those pictures reminded me of these taken over Christmas/New Years in Arizona




Funny little one

Monday, February 24, 2014

Happy 3rd Birthday, Taryn!





Taryn turned 3 years old on Saturday so we made the whole day about her. Saturday birthdays are great because you get to spend the whole day together as a family. We started with our traditional birthday breakfast- cake and canned peaches & pears. We really thought about the tradition behind Birthday Breakfasts- starting when my lawyer father had to work late and couldn't be home early in the evening to have a birthday dinner. So instead, my parents started celebrating birthdays in the morning, complete with cake, ice cream, and canned peaches & pears. Tyson and I both agreed this year that the best way to start a birthday is with cake in the morning and opening presents! Who wants to wait ALL DAY! just to get the best of the birthday celebrations! This way you get to wear your new clothes and start the day with a bang!

Taryn has been talking about her birthday since Christmas. We've been counting down the months, weeks and days for what seems like forever. We even watched videos from past birthdays. She declared that she wanted a sprinkle cake (like the one from her first birthday) months ago and made us so happy when she said she wanted sprinkles for her birthday…only sprinkles! We modified it just a bit to make it a special 3 year old cake and she loved it! 




It's like we just snapped and our little girl is into all things princess. She is a diva…just look at the pose below!!!!


No prompting whatsoever….There are many more of her in different poses & with various facial expressions too!


In the young readers section of our library there are many Biscuit series books. Taryn checks out multiple Biscuit books to take home and read over and over again. She acts out the books, calls every dog she sees "Biscuit," and recites the book to us as we read together. Now she has her very own Biscuit book.


So excited for her day!


The National Building Museum had an Engineering Family Day with many exhibits and hands on activities for kids. Taryn built a car out of paper & mints, made slime, caught pop corn in a net as it fell from above and received lots of fun handouts. We had never been to the building museum but now we want to go when it's not so crowded. 








A stop at We, The Pizza was a must while we were in D.C.
Seriously good pizza! We headed to The Mall and Taryn spotted the carousel. So the carousel was our next stop. She couldn't stop smiling and squealing as we headed towards it. She even started running with me (picture below) because she wanted to ride so much. I'm so glad it wasn't closed for the winter!








Such a happy happy girl with her Daddy!



We ran into some SAIS alumni on The Mall. Taryn requested that they sing to her for her birthday. And so they did! Taryn said, "That's my favorite song!" once they finished. 




My new favorite picture of these two.


The day was great and I love that Taryn is 3 years old now. She is beautiful, happy, spunky, adventurous and imaginative. Taryn is a wonderful girl and I'm so glad she is apart of our family and that we could celebrate her all day long. 



Wednesday, February 19, 2014

SO MUCH SNOW!!!!!!


We had a good snow storm that seemed to pause everything. I LOVE walking out in the early morning when it's just you and the snow. The way it crushes under your feet, hearing the snow gently hitting your jacket, and almost feeling as light as a cloud as you walk on top of that magic white wonder. I still get excited starring out my window watching the snow fall each time because it's just so breathtaking, especially in our current home where the window takes in a view of the giant Walnut tree in our backyard dusted with powder. 
Now, that may make it sound like I like snow. I am not a fan. I would rather enjoy it's beauty, play in it for a bit, and then have it magically disappear when I need to run errands, go for a walk to the park - actually get stuff done! But secretly, I LOVE each new snow fall for the beauty and stillness it brings.




Our amazing landlord returned from the Philippines (gone for 3 months!!) and we woke up super early to discover he had already paved a perfect path from our front door and more!  He is such an amazingly kind person. Taryn gave him the biggest hug ever when she saw him for the first time in 3 months. She has become good friends with him :) Let's just say he is WAY better at shoveling snow than Tys & I. 


Our friends came over and we played in my backyard. We even went sledding down the ramp of the porch!! Taryn & Logan loved the snow and had a lot of fun throwing snowballs, eating snow, making snow angels and building a snowman. Taryn demolished it after it had been completed for about 5 seconds and then carried around his mid-section like a prize.








Hadleigh (who despite her face in the picture) was quite happy outside. She had just woken up from a nap and being outside with lots to see & bundled up warm made her as happy as could be. Those cheeks tend to pull her face down a bit :) We had A LOT of fun playing together outside in the fresh snow. We came inside & warmed up with lunch and hot chocolate (chocolate milk for the little ones) and thawed for a bit.