Taylor Turns 1

I can't believe that a whole year has gone by.  It went so fast.  We had some pretty big changes since Taylor was born (Drew graduated with his MBA and moving to Edmonton), but overall it was a great year.  Taylor has grown and changed so much, but she still is a cute and sweet little girl.

 

Taylor has 7 teeth.  Crazy, brown, curly hair. Big blue eyes, and long eyelashes.  She is the same height as Davis was when he turned 1.   

 

Taylor crawls like crazy, and can climb the stairs.  She also can walk around furniture.  She likes to walk around while we hold her hands.  She says a few words:  "Mom", "Dad", "Uh-oh", and "Hello".

 

Taylor loves oranges and popcorn, and is drinking Homo milk.  

 

 

Taylor loves music, babies, reading books, cuddles, her brothers, and she loves riding the swing at the park.  Taylor also likes to pretend that she is talking on the phone.   

Phoenix can't say "Taylor", so he calls her "Tater".  Some of her other nicknames are "Tay-Tay", "Darth Taylor", and "Taylor Belle".

 

 

We are so glad that she is part of our family.

All glamorous girls need a pair of over-sized sunglasses.  

 

 The boys having fun with Auntie Karen and her IPad.  

 

 
We were lucky enough to have Grandma and Grandpa Jensen, Auntie Jo, Lexie, Auntie Karen and Uncle Martin come up to help celebrate Taylor's Birthday.  Taylor was pretty unaware that anything special was going on.  When it came time to open presents, she crawled under the table, and we had to drag her out so that we could start.  Her brothers were more excited about opening presents than she was, and ended up opening more than she did.  

 

 

 

I have always wanted to make someone a Barbie cake, and I finally got my chance.  I made Taylor a Snow White cake.  I know it was a little over-the-top for a first Birthday, but I am taking full advantage of all the girly-ness while I can.  My friend Annelise came over the day before and helped me make her cake.  I admit, that it was a bit sad to pull out the doll to cut the cake.  

 

 

Taylor was very delicate and feminine when it was cake time.  She would take tiny little pieces off and eat them.  

 

 Then she started to eat the bowl.  Soon, she got a little more messy, and she had cake in her hair. 

 

All Clean.  

 

Pics of the Week

 Phoenix and I made crayons out of the broken and unloved ones in the box.

Drew gave the boys some much needed haircuts.

Taylor pushed Phoenix around in his car.  They thought it was pretty fun.

 

Marcus...what a funny kid.

 

Marcus made this cool hat for St. Patrick's Day at school.  I got a laugh out of it when he came off the bus.

 

What a cute pair.  

 

The highlight of the week was that Grandma Jane and Grandpa Tom came for a visit.

 

Our week

We had a really busy week.   Drew was invigilating mid-terms.  Marcus started another round of swimming lessons.  Davis is busy with school.  Phoenix is just busy.  Taylor is teething, so she isn't the happiest girl or the most well-rested.  I watched my friend's little boy for two days while she was here for a seminar, got ready for New Beginnings, and did the other Mom stuff.  And on Saturday Drew took the boys to the Sugar Bowl for our ward sledding activity. 

 Drew found some sleds the other day on clearance at Canadian Tire.  Marcus really wanted to try them out one morning, so Drew built them a mini tobogganing hill in the backyard.  We have been having some really nice weather, so a lot of their time is spent outside playing in the snow, and for the past few days, playing in the slush and water.  

Taylor sampled cream cheese icing, and we had tortellini soup for dinner, so after all that she was in need of a good bath.  Drew is good at multitasking and washes her and the dishes at the same time. 

Taylor thinks Bob is pretty cool.  She likes to watch him eat his crickets.  She wants to hold him when her brothers do, but is still a bit too small.  

 

Gotta love these silly boys!!

 

Winter Wonderland

 We finally got a ton of snow last week, so the boys have been making the most of it by playing in the snow and then coming inside for the requisite hot chocolate.  On the walk home from the bus we have made of game of seeing who-can-push-who-in-the-snow.  So far we have all had a turn.  It was a good thing that Marcus was wearing his snowpants (hahahaha!!).

I found Davis sleeping in the snow.  He buried himself in a big pile of snow, and told me that it was so warm and cozy. 

Davis lost his snowpants at school (argh!!).  At first just Davis and Phoenix wanted to play outside, so I sent Davis out wearing Marcus' snowpants.  Then Marcus wanted to play outside, so we improvised with a garbage bag and packing tape.  Luckily I was able to borrow a pair of snowpants from a friend in the ward, and then I found some on clearance at Oshkosh.  I almost did a dance in the store, when I saw that they had a pair in his size, for $12.