Another first for Little Miss

Little Miss threw up for the first time tonight, AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

***HAPPY NEW YEAR FAMILY AND FRIENDS, NEAR AND FAR***

Catch The Locomotive!

Today was our long awaited trip aboard one of Portland's only two working steam locomotives. A local train preservation society hosts Christmas rides every year for two weeks in December. A little rain came down but nothing to worry about.




Maisy was still riding a wave of confidence from last week when she sat on Santa's lap without crying or making a fuss, something her older brother was not capable of and she wouldn't let him forget it. Until, a thud hit the roof of the car we were in and before you knew it...



Santa! All 6' 5" of him. Needless to say, Maisy was not very happy to be in his arms.



After the big, red, scary man left the car, Liam was very happy to have nabbed a candy cane without having to touch Santa and Maisy, well, let's just say she is still looking over her shoulder whenever she hears sleigh bells.



Big brother will look out for you!



Daddy gets a chance in front of the lens.

Santa Claus is Coming to....the mall

Oh what a joy it is! The plan was to go to with Ava and her parents, and Katie and her parents for the pictures with Santa. That part was easy. We got some food to avoid any meltdowns, again a success. We did not plan on the hour long wait. The kids faired pretty well though. The dads ran the kiddos while the moms stayed in line.


We were waiting on pins and needles to see how Liam would react to Santa and you guessed it, he reacted exactly as we thought. He was not interested in Santa AT ALL. We did a group photo of the kids, thinking what a great idea, a picture of the kiddos for Patti. The picture ended up sans Liam because he was having nothing to do with the man in the red.

Ava had her own picture with Santa. Katie had her own picture with Santa. This is Liam's picture with Santa.

Amazing Little Miss!!

Little Miss took 2 steps tonight....right after we brought in the Christmas tree...and all three of us saw it!! On December 3rd she took one step. She was standing at a chair, did a pivot, turn, and took a step. She has been trying ever since, walking while holding our fingers but tonight our little sweet pea has turned a corner.

Another Busy Weekend

Saturday was busy for our little social butterflies. The morning was Koen's (born 2 weeks before Little Miss by my good friend Tonya) had his first birthday party. I will never pass up the offer to watch a one year old eat/smear cake.


The evening brought the birthday party of Little Man's bestest friend, Ava. Ava's parents had a work Christmas party so Ava stayed with us. There were quesadillas and Spanish rice for dinner, lots of splashing in the tub, and we set up a makeshift bed in the bonus room with an evening showing of Cloudy With a Side of Meatballs. Amazingly, after the movie I explained that it was time for bed and they both agreed. I turned off the light, turned on the nightlight and did not hear another peep! Liam was a little dismayed, and disappointed, that Ava was not there in the morning. We had to explain, several times, that her mommy and daddy wanted her home and picked her up after the party. Next time, I think we will have her stay the entire night.

On Sunday we made the trek to get the Christmas tree. The weather was beautiful and the holiday is fast approaching so timing is of the essence. We tried a new Christmas tree farm this year, something on this side of town, and it was a really good experience. Liam tried hot chocolate for the first time and loudly proclaimed I LOVE THIS!

(this picture of Sean cracks me up)

Thanksgiving At The New House!!!

We were lucky enough to be able to host Thanksgiving at our new house this year. We closed on November 6th and busily spent the next few weeks getting everything put (or thrown) away. GiGi (Linda) and Boots (John) flew in from Colorado and were able to join us this year.

And oh the activities!


painting

puzzles

and puddles

oh my!

HALLOWEEN ! ! !

Well what better time to re-appear on the Blog than Halloween. This year Little Man dressed up as Superman and Little Miss as a Green Dragon. Little man loved trick-or-treating and kept asking if we could go to more houses. We move to the new house at the end of this week. Enjoy!

Important Date

I wanted to make note of the date AUGUST 8, 2010. This is the date of Little Man's first haircut where #1. he wore the cape and #2. he DID NOT sit on his mom's lap!!! I took pictures to prove it.

Shout out to Lightning McQueen, thanks for the help!

First Bath

Little Man and Little Miss had their first bath together and we deemed it a success. Little Man could not strip his clothes off fast enough when he asked if he could take a bath with her and I said Yes! He was very gentle and shared his toys with her (like the awesome big brother he is). Little Miss was happy to just sit and splash the water :)

If Every Weekend Could Be This Perfect

There was 90 degree weather predicted for Portland all weekend. Seeing we do not have a/c we choose to escape. Saturday we headed to Canon Beach, a Taylor family ritual since Little Man was born. We like to go in for the day, picnic on the beach, play in the water and then buy one piece each of candy for the drive home.

Sunday Little Miss decided it was time for dress up and I could not stand the cuteness in her dress! Perfect for the bright, sunny day. She makes us smile :)

Portland has an amazing park in the Pearl District that has the BEST water fountain for children, called Jameson Park. This was Little Miss's first time and she loved it! Even took a nap in her stroller for us. Little Man knows the fountain well and had no trouble jumping into the fun.

Photo Shoot

Violet! You're turning violet, Violet!

A reference to the film Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, scene: Violet Beauregarde turning into a giant blueberry. And that is exactly what I thought was going to happen to Little Man when we went blueberry picking last weekend. The weather was fantastic, the kiddos were in a great mood, and the Brislins met us there.

Ready, Set, PICK!!!!

The perfect size blueberry bush for Ava and Little Man.

From the bush

to the bucket

Where is Little Man you may ask yourself? Hiding because he was not interested in having his picture taken.

Thankfully, Little Miss is always up for a photo op :)

Two happy kiddos with their stash of blueberries.

Nothing like a nice cool dip in a pool made for two. The BBQ at the Brislin house afterward was Mommy and Daddy's favorite part of the day.

Run to the Ocean

So that is what we did! The Brislin's let us know they were going too so the plan was to meet at the beach and let the kids run wild. As timing would have it, both families pulled into Cannon Beach at the same time -- I love when it all goes as planned. The weather did not behave as planned but the kids didn't mind. They still managed to chase (and run from) waves, fly a kite, destroy the neighbors sand castle (after the neighbors left) and simply have fun with each other.

Storming of the castle!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, we are blessed to have another beach baby on our hands. Little Miss LOVED it :)

Little Miss having a ball with her new BFF (Best Friend Forever for all you non-blogger, non-texter types) Audrey.

I had to include this photo for the sole purpose of Ava in the background!!! Click on the picture once and prepare to laugh :)

Little Man inviting his #1 lady friend to have a seat next to him.