40 Weeks Old!

Ok, I'm playing a little catch-up.  It's been a busy month.  Taylor had her 9 month check up last week.  She's a whopping 16 pounds.  Growing cuter with every pound!

Click here for lots of adorable pictures.

Last week we were in Enterprise, Oregon. We arrived in the middle of the night and Taylor was awoken in the morning by lots of cutie cousins. It was a house full of people at Papa Shaw's. 25 total, 23 staying there.  OZ's siblings, spouses & all their kids. There were people everywhere, but it was a ton of fun. 

Kristy brought tie-dye and all the kids made tie-dye shirts... (and a onesie for Taylor).   

We spent a couple of days at Wallowa Lake.

In the evening we walked down to Terminal Gravity, the brewery at the bottom of Papa Shaw's hill. Delicious eats and a great beers. They have tables outside and the weather was great. 

Back to the lake the next day for some canoeing, paddle boarding, floating and napping. 

Went to TG that evening with the Hermans, Played a bunch of Mexican Train dominos.

On the way home we stopped to see OZ's brother Joe & the kids. Then off to see his Grandparents and of course play some Pinochle!! Loved it.  Great Grandma & Grandpa love seeing Taylor.  Grandpa gets a big kick out of saying her name and her looking up at him.  

Taylor did great on her flights.  She's definitely becoming more active.  She scoots and moves all day.  She's starting to use her pincher finger to pick up cheerios and food, followed by grabbing her sippy cup for a drink of water to wash it down with. What a big girl. 

Until Next week... 

Meg. 

39 Weeks Old!

Click here for photos from this week.

So we're already on the road again an I haven't even posted the blog from last week.
Currently we are driving from Boise, ID to Enterprise, OR at 3:30am.  We'll be here for 5 days. But more to come on that next week. Back to Maryland ...
Last week ended with us arriving in Maryland for a long awaited visit with the Kules fam. Loved every minute of it. Soaking up all the amazing tid bits of information from the smooth running household of Operation Kules.

In the pictures you'll see Taylor:

Listening intently to Jillian reading her chapter books. 

Apparently the Olympics have the same affect on Ryan as they do on Taylor Poppy. 

A gaggle of kids skyping good morning to the Surakus'

Taylor trying to keep up with speedy Liv, dance party with Jillian & sharing a baby smooch with big boy Evan! 

We made our way back to PHX  made our way to the Harris's for some delicious ribs. (add that to Taylor's firsts.) While there Abby & Hanna taught Taylor the fun of dress-up. Very fun. 

Tried lemon sorbet with Papa, which by the way is also the first "word" Taylor understands. I can ask Taylor, "Where's Papa?" and she will look over at his picture. 

Spent time with Grandma showing her the new silly face Taylor likes to make by crinkling her nose. 

And lastly ending the week spending time with the Pappaioanous in from Carmel, Indy.  They love them some Taylor Poppy and she has no qualms about entertaining them with her endless smiles. 

Off we go. Until next week. 

Meg. 

38 Weeks Old!

Click here for this weeks photos!

This week Taylor:

• started the week with a belated family birthday party (super cute photos of Taylor and Kellen!  Taylor could not take her eyes off of Kellen- he made her laugh the whole time and she was quite smitten with him)
• attended Kenley's baby shower (Taylor loved hanging out with all the ladies.  We were very happy to spend time with Kenley, Artemis & Jamie- Taylor was soaking up all their love and always looks forward to spending time with these girls!)
• helped Momma and Papa celebrate our wedding anniversary (7 years!)
• fell asleep watching the Olympics with Daddy
• watched Mommy's first attempt at curling ribbon for making hair bows (I'm prepping in advance for when she finally grows more hair!!)
• tried meat for the first time (a trophy elk Daddy hunted out of the Kaibab National Forest! She has already developed a taste for backstrap and can't wait for more.  Good thing, because there's lots of elk in her future!!)
• went out to lunch with Grandma at Macayo's
• caught her 19th flight to Maryland to see our good friends the Kules.  (More photos to come next week of our fun here in the East!  We've only been here for one day, but Taylor is really enjoying watching the Kules kids (especially 13 month old Evan) and seems to think they are pretty cool!
• is expanding her sense of taste.  New foods (in addition to the elk!) are chicken, apple sauce, broccoli and a little bit of cheese sauce.

More to come in 7 days!  Have a great week!

37 Weeks Old!

Feeding ourselves is a highlight of most days for Taylor Poppy. This usually results in peaches, mangos, spinach or whatever she is eating behind her ears and in her hair.  Amongst feeding herself Taylor is also drinking from a sippy cup and crawling all over the place.  And she is speedy!

This week we did more of the usual.  Grocery shopping and traveling.  :)  Taylor is social butterfly.  Loves talking up a storm.  She hung out with her big fans the Vazquezs & went swimming. Then we took a trip to Prescott to see my dearest friend Dana & family.  It was so great seeing her and everyone else.  We had such a great visit.  Next stop Sedona to hang out with my dad for the day.  Taylor really started to catch on to peek-a-boo.  Then back to Phoenix for a quick family get together for my cousin's birthday where Taylor was able to play a little with her cousin Ayden!  So cute together!

Click here for this week's pictures.  Until next week.
Meg.

36 Weeks Old!

Off to Colorado for a lovely week with friends.  Taylor enjoyed playing with the kids while OZ & I enjoyed hanging out with friends.  Taylor may have thought the biggest event this week was her eating an entire peach or apricot for breakfast or going on her first bike ride. But the biggest event this week was Taylor's sleep training!  We made it over the hump thanks to my dearest friends Karyn & Katie. Taylor probably didn't think that while in Colorado she'd be doing sleep training, but she did, and aced it like a champ.  She's skipping a night feeding and sleeping right through it.  It's amazing! Taylor was a sweet baby girl this week.  She swam in the pool, played in the park, enjoyed the Colorado weather on the Schrom's back patio and strolled with our friend Holly. Life is good.  

Enjoy the pictures from this week here.

Meg.

35 Weeks Old!

Eight months old! This girl is getting sooo big! We started off the week with getting fun pictures taken  by our friend Sarah. There are a few she sent me in the pics this week and more to come.
Taylor is a social butterfly. We had a busy week of play dates and swimming. She absolutely loves watching other kids and babies.  It's as if she knows these are her people.
We try to get a little outside time in the cooler part of each day. Taylor loves watching the planes, she'll see one flying and follows it across the sky.  I enjoy just watching her look around and check everything out.  She likes to watch birds as we walk around Tempe Town Lake.  She enjoys being read to, or just eating the books.  haha.  She has a quick hand and goes to grab just about anything in reach.  Then straight to the mouth usually.
She talks to the baby in the mirror and can spend time just gabbing away.  I love the way she watches my mouth as I sing to her or repeat sounds.  It's as if she's really studying how my lips are moving.  Then tries to repeat the sound.

Off to pack.  We enjoyed the week home, but now we're heading to Colorado.  (Taylor's 10th state. ;)
Until next week.  Here are the pictures from this week.

Enjoy,
Meg.

34 Weeks Old!

Another great fun-filled week.  We visited with friends & family. Grandma Cathy came to visit, so we took a road trip to Sedona, the Grand Canyon & Flagstaff.  Taylor took her first dip in Oak Creek as well.

Some of the big news this week...Taylor is getting up on all fours and starting to crawl.  She can lift her body and reach real hard for something she wants and push with her toes to move forward a little.  I fear Speedy Gonzales crawling is just around the corner. She's already getting into as much as she can. She is so curious.  Loves being outside and looking around.  Taylor spent her first 4th of July in the pool honing her swimming skills, then out to watch fireworks at our friends Kelly & Jose's.  Taylor watched the fireworks in awe.  She would even let out a giggle after some.

Taylor finds the baby in the mirror hilarious. She grabs for the camera when she sees herself in it.  She also has a cute admiration for babies and kids.  Taylor recognizes babies/kids vs. adults. She gets a big smile as if she wants to meet and talk to them.  She's so social.

She recognizes when it's time to eat when I grab her bib.  She loves mangos and cantaloupe.  She can almost sit up on her own.  I sit her up and she'll last for half a minute before tipping over.

Last night she was staring at our pictures of OZ & I.  I grabbed the 8x10 I have framed in our room and she would pat OZ's face, then look at me as if to say, "That's my papa!" This morning when we woke up she saw the picture and was trying to get to it across the bed.  So cute.

She is still sleeping in bed with me, which contributes to mama not getting very good sleep. She was in the bassinet, but I moved it out of our room when we got her crib.  We're working on getting familiar with the crib and her room.  Spending more time in there and napping in the crib.  Also hoping to cut out the middle of the night feeding soon.  Wish us luck.

Until next week. Click here for pictures from this week.
Meg.