Car-Cart

Every time we go shopping, Taylor always asks for a car-cart. She will start the shopping trip adamant that we have to use a car-cart, and about halfway in changes her mind and demands to get out. She usually unbuckles Connor a few times as well...who is then crawling out the top of the cart. Connor also still puts her mouth on everything, so we usually try to wipe down all the surfaces with those handy sanitary wipes the store provides, but I'm sure that's not enough. Not to mention pushing these things are like pushing an actual car, and you can only carry 1/3 of the groceries you would normally get. But nonetheless....we tend to go for the car-cart experience when we can. Because I will take a 50% happy trip over 0% happy any day. The End.

"Now listen Taylor, if you start trying to honk my horn again, I'll pull your hair."

Not a Toddler

I was folding a pair of Taylor's pajamas yesterday, when I noticed the tag was different than others.  Instead of the normal '3T' labeling, this stated 'Toddler 3'.  I laughed out loud.  I don't have a three year old toddler.  To me, a toddler is the stage Connor is on the verge of.  Walks with caution, stands up just to fall down and laugh, eats with her fingers and still rubs it in her hair, still needs diapering, would eat a bubble wand if you gave it to her, and uses a language only her mommy & daddy understand.  Getting Connor to hold still to read a 7 page board book is like getting our dog to not shed his hair.  

Taylor is not a toddler.  I have a 3 year old with an expansive vocabulary and who is able to clearly communicate her thoughts & feelings.  She can run and kick soccer balls, climb ladders, go down slides, swing in big swings, hit a ball off a tee, and can blow all her own bubbles.  She can get into her own car seat and buckle it.  She is fully potty-trained.  She loves to be read to and to read to you.  She also still gets incredibly emotional, and can change from happy to monster in under 30 seconds.  I guess that is why they are called 'pre-schoolers'.  But I also understand that 3PS would look ridiculous on the tag of kids' clothes.  

We celebrated this 3PS birthday over the weekend.  We invited the kids from her class at school, and 5 girls and 2 boys showed up for the princess party.  Taylor had a blast.  I don't remember anything from that afternoon - it is all still a blur.

*Sidenote: I'm noticing that the pictures aren't organized at all as they are uploading, and I'm too lazy to try and drag and drop and fix them.  Eh - you get the idea.

Taylor in her Fairy Princess costume in front of the Princess cakes. 

Wee little Tinkerbell.

Aunt Steph helped T decorate her crown. 

Some of the other moms helping their kids with the crown decorating.

Bubbles! Little Princesses!

A true princess always wears her tennis shoes, and rides the nose of the bouncy lizard.

On her actual birthday...

Tink again (Thanks to all the family and friends who watched this one while I was totally engrossed in the rest of the party. I was so afraid of losing someone else's kid at the park, even though they all had guardians of some sort watching them too.

Oh - again riding the bouncy lizard. 

Speechless

The Dare Devil

The Dancing Queen
(Ignore the background dorky-ness of my voice and the gift bags in the dining room.  I've cleaned up the dining room, but I'm sure my voice is still dorky.  Also, don't ask what is up with her outfit.  It was an interesting evening...)

Little ONE

I'm taking a quick break from finding and scraping layers of birthday cake icing off the floor to put up a few pictures of Connor's birthday party.  It was a beautiful early fall day - the kind that is too warm to have your AC turned off but too cool to leave it on.  We left ours off, and now I'm subsequently trying to kill 300 flies that ventured in and out of our really crappy screen door. 

About the party - great turnout of our family and friends.  We are very lucky to have so many great people around us.  Okay, enough sappiness....that's about all you will get from me.

Pre-cake. Taylor was not so cooperative on the smiling at this point. 

Connor's 'Block Cake'.  Made by my mom and so tasty.  I had one of the few remaining pieces for breakfast this morning (healthy, I know). Unfortunately, we didn't prep Taylor on helping to blow out the candle - so I think my mom actually did it.  My head was too far up my camera trying to take a picture that I didn't even think about it.

Post-cake.  You ask..no bib?  Don't worry, the dress washed up miraculously well.

Little hillbilly baby chilling with her dad waiting to open the next present.  I cannot believe I forgot to move the uber-trashy plastic basketball off the deck before the party.  Oh well, probably went well with the mosquitoes.

Our attempt at a family picture.  Andy and I were obviously misdirected on which camera we should look at.  Our birthday girl finally had a dress on again, but I apparently was trying to show off her outie.  And the princess was about 47 minutes into a frosting high.  Gah.  We'll try again on the 28th :)

ANYWHO - Happy Birthday sweet baby Connor.  We love you!

Unorganized thoughts...

One of our favorite ways to beat the heat this summer is with popsicles.  I get the all-fruit, no added sugar kind...one) because they are healthier and two) because they are the kind I like.  Yes, I will enforce my likes on my children while I still can! 

Even Connor loves a good popsicle...Taylor and I like to say it helps her teeth.  Or lack thereof.

We also went to visit my grandparents over this past weekend.  My aunt & uncle were in town from California, which was supposed to be the reason we were there.  However, the night before they arrived, my Grammie fell down the basement stairs and is pretty beat up.  She doesn't have any broken bones, but her poor face looks like she stole Mike Tyson's tiger.  Connor was a good snuggle buddy though - and this picture is the one I'm ok with posting because it doesn't show much of the damage on Grammie's face. : (

On a lighter note - Sunday, Taylor went to her first big-girl birthday party.  Basically, the first party of a girl from preschool....and where we didn't know the parents.  The party was at Zonkers - which is Chuck E Cheese on steriods.  No mechanical singing animals though.  There was a carousel...

There weren't any belts or anything to hold her on, and I was on the fence of riding with her and holding on.  In the end, I just 'let go'....and she was happy as ever.

There also was a roller coaster and an indoor graviton thing too...those I had to ride with her the first time because she is not four...but after the first time, she and the other little kiddos rode together.  Here's T with another little girl from school, Harper. 

On the way out of the mall (Zonkers is in the mall...maybe I forgot to mention that), we were distracted by the quarter-rides.  I didn't have any quarters, but Taylor still wanted to get in and play.  Here...we are still riding the birthday-cake sugar high and crazy ride rush...

And not a minute later, the buzz is starting to wear off :)  The girl slept HARD on Sunday night. 

County Fair Time!

Growing up, I loved the four days of the Pratt County fair. I could not wait to eat caramel apples and corn dogs, ride one thousand rides, have my fip flopped feet be covered in dust/straw/cow manuer, and to be totally freaked out by at least one carnie. I could play that Horse Racing game for hours, or until my money ran out. And, being friends of 4-H'rs, I would know the best nights to go look at their exhibits...check out what they had sewn, what flower arrangement they put together, or my favorite...their horse or cow or sheep. With all these great memories, I could not wait to get Taylor to the county fair here. Maybe being a parent has jaded my view point of these types of things, or maybe I just have glorified memories of the past. (Probably a little of both)

WOW is it expensive. WOW is it dirty. WOW is it dangerous. WOW are there some reeeeeally sketchy people....and I'm not even talking about the carnies yet. Nonetheless, Taylor was big enough to ride 3 of the rides, and we settled on riding one ride and playing one game.

She Miss America-waved the entire first lap, but I wasn't quick enough on my camera to get her waving until she had passed us. Andy was trying to take video with his phone, and I wasn't going to leave Connor unattended to get another picture (reference afore mentioned sketchy people).

The horns even worked.  She was stoked.

In the right frame of this pic is the super nice carny for this ride.  He was seriously the least creepy, nicest fair person I've ever met working at a fair. I think his only competition would be Navin Johnsnon.

The only game Taylor could play and be guaranteed a prize was the 'Pick Up The Duck' game.  What a ripoff, but it made her happy.  She could pick any of the small blow-up items: a lion, dolphin, monkey, AK47, pink lips, flower.....what did she pick, you ask?

That's right -- a GINORMOUS blowup sword.  Of course.

Poor Connor....her first experience at the fair just left her hot & dirty.  We didn't pony up for a $4.00 hot dog, but instead bailed and had pizza.  We also went through the buildings and the petting zoo.  Glorious memories aside, the Pratt County Fair 4-H'rs would kick the Douglas County Fair 4-Hr's butts.  Who knew I would grow up and be such a snob about flower arrangements, baked goods, and home sewn clothes! 

How We Nap....

This freaked me out when I went to check on her.  After I made sure she could breathe, I took a picture.

Taylor made sure that her puppy & Penelope (the pig) were both tucked in too.