Half A Cake + Half A Song = A Whole Lot of Fun

Today was Kirsten's "Half Birthday"... C'mon... you know what a half birthday is right? The glorious day when mere seven year olds officially become seven and a HALF year olds! We like to celebrate by making half a Birthday Cake, singing half of the "Happy Birthday" song, and telling Kirsten "Happy Bir..." all day long (we only say half of it... get it?).

Here is our beautiful half of a cake. (The candy says 7 1/2)

The boys were thoughtful enough to only be HALF dressed for the party :)

There is usually a "no gifts on Half Birthday" policy... but since I found some Hannah Montana hair glitter for HALF off I went for it! (That's actually totally untrue... it was 90% off and only .75 but I was trying to keep with the theme.)

... and notice that the gift is only HALF wrapped

This is what seven and a half looks like!

"Happy Bir... Honey!"

Dear Danny,

My sweet, silly boy. You make my heart smile.

What an exciting, busy month December 2008 was. You enjoyed the holidays but you also enjoy your regular routine. On Christmas Eve you loved opening gifts and playing with your new cars... but at bedtime you made it very clear that the party was over and you were turning in for the night :) Your awe of all things Christmas is something I'll always remember. You liked to stand in front of the Christmas tree pointing at each, individual ornament whispering "WOW" over and over. It was so precious. You enjoyed wearing your Santa outfit and as soon as I pulled it out of the drawer you would start calling "Ho, ho, ho!" You, Kirsten, and Matt all enjoyed standing in front of dancing Santa statues and dancing along.

You have officially become a little sponge. You take in everything around you and you are always thinking. You know all your body parts and many animals now. You like to play the "animal sound game" and make sounds as I test you (with cow, cat, dog, monkey, duck, bird, alligator, and sheep).

You like to be read too... as long as we read NO DAVID! or DAVID GETS IN TROUBLE! You bring the books to me pointing your little finger and yelling "No, no, no, no!"

Your language skills are exploding. You are starting to put words together and ask questions. A few times recently you've said something that didn't make sense to me but I always figure out that you know exactly what you are talking about! (For example, a few days ago we were playing outside and you giggled "Duck... quack, quack, quack"... clearly there was no duck on the lawn. I asked you if you saw a bird and you said "Duck Mama... quack, quack". I looked at your sister and giggled and called you silly... to which Kirsten said "Mommy, he wants the rubber ducky over there" and pointed to the toy. Duh.)

You love, love, love "Blue's Clues". You like to play outside, jump, dance, sing (preferably in your sister's new microphone toy), and play with balls. You LOVE balls. Grandpa made the mistake of pointing out his tangerine tree to you by saying "look at all the balls"... now all round fruit must be thrown and kicked :)

You've had a hard time with your ears this winter/fall... but you've been such a trooper! I keep taking Matt to the doctor because I can tell he's not feeling well. I always have the doctor check you too once I see that Matt has an infection and EVERY time the doctor cringes when she looks in your little ears and comments on how bad your infection is. I can't wait for you to get your ear tubes. I'm so ready for you to be healthy!

You still love cuddles but now you like to tease me and run away giggling when I ask for kisses. You refuse to let anyone cut your hair and you are terrified of the garbage truck. However, you are not the least bit afraid of climbing on top of (and jumping off of) tables, beds, and step stools. You make me laugh about 100 times a day.

You are the beauty in my life. I love you sweet boy,
Mommy

My Kids Are Geniuses... Seriously!

They are! I know all parents think this... but I'm convinced it's true with my gang.

Here's the proof:
1. Kirsten gave me a science lesson about caffeine last night. It acts like sugar and it can stop your bones from growing.

2. Kirsten can read ANYTHING you put in front of her (and lots of things you don't put in front of her... Daddy's sci-fi novels now have to be hidden.)

3. Danny's language skills are getting ridiculous (says the speech therapist mommy... so it's official!)
- Yesterday he picked up Kirsten's "Angel Barbie" and said "Ma Ma... Baby!" (all dolls are babies... LOVE the generalizations) "Baby... Bird! Bird Mommy." (Because the angel has wings! He JUST learned about birds and he's already making the generalization about wings!)

- Danny loves babies. He is always pointing out babies. Yesterday when I was talking to Kirsten about "the babies" and asked her to bring me "the baby" Danny looked very confused and asked "Matt? Matt baby?" when Kirsten picked up Matt... of course he knows HE is a big boy... but his twin could totally be a baby.

4. Matt opened the child-proof infant Motrin (with the safety cap) in 10 seconds flat. Don't ask why he was playing with the medicine... just be amazed at his motor skills. (Daddy was with him... no worries.)

Here is Matt helping Kirsten check her homework

Case Closed... Genius children.

Matty D,

You and those adorable dimples! They are just so charming (and even though you are only one and a half I swear you know it!)

This month we celebrated your second Christmas. You spent the month "Ho, ho, ho"ing and crying because I kept dropping you in Santa's lap. (Sorry about that... but I got some really cute pictures!)

You are having a really hard time with your ears. The ear infections you and Danny have now have been lingering since the beginning of October. This month was hard for you. You were in quite a bit of pain with your poor little ears AND you cut your last two teeth (for awhile anyway)! I feel so bad for you when you are not feeling well. You are usually the sunniest, happiest little guy. The only upside is that you only want me when you don't feel well. At 3 am I have to remind myself how precious this is... but it really, really is. You have always been Daddy's boy, but when you don't feel good I'm the only one who can calm you down. Hopefully next month's letter will have some information about the surgury I am now very convinced you need for your poor little ears.

This month you finally figured out how to climb up the bars of your crib. You haven't actually climbed OUT yet... but you've climbed on top of the divider between you and Danny. (Danny thought it was AWESOME. He laughed and cheered... You boys are going to either keep me very young or age me very quickly... I'm not sure of which way it's going to go yet...)

You LOVE to reprimand Danny. You point your little finger and yell "No, no, no, no, no!" when you see him breaking a rule. (Usually one you have just finished breaking... thus giving him the idea).

You know all of your body parts now (including eyes, ears, hair, nose, mouth, teeth, tongue, arms, toes, feet, belly, fingers, and head). You are STILL addicted to your bottle (which I am embarressed to admit... you just may take it to college with you). You love to dance, watch "Blue's Clues", and play outside. You love to snuggle Kirsten and follow me around in the kitchen warning me "HOT! HOT!" anytime I touch anything (so cute). You will only sit in your high chair for about 90 seconds at a time... which is making meal times a little stressful for me (but very amusing for you).

You are really, really smart.(I know all parents say that... but you might just be a genius!) You are learning new things every single day and I am constantly amazed by you.

I love you sweet baby. I love you so so much.
Mommy

My Girl,

I say it a lot, but this month REALLY did go too fast. We had so much fun though... and we made so many new memories. I love that we have our own traditions now. You and I decorate the Christmas tree together each year. For some reason Daddy doesn't love doing this the way you and I do... but I so look forward to doing it with you. I'm sure we'll have to include your brothers in the next year or two, but for now I like that it's "just us girls". We did lots of holiday baking together and as I learn new recipes you are learning them right along with me (I'm sure you'll be a MUCH better cook than I am!).

You were an angel in the Christmas pageant again this year. Three of the other moms made a point to tell me how sweet you were. During each rehearsal you helped the "little girls" and were a perfect role model for them.

You celebrated your First Reconciliation at church this month. You were so excited (not nervous at all!) and RAN back to the confessional to be the first one. You are very aware of "right" and "wrong" and you make me so very, very proud.

You spent most of your holiday break helping Daddy and Grandpa rebuild the deck. You love to be outside and included in these projects. (I expect that you will be MUCH handier that either Daddy or I could ever hope to be.)

You have one giant "grown up tooth" growing into your huge gap and you are so proud of it. It is so very, very cute.

You received an electric guitar and a violin for Christmas. You love sitting with Daddy for your "guitar lessons" and you can't wait to join the violin club at school. (I don't know if this is because you are truly musically inclined if it's just because you love Mrs. Zeoli, your music teacher, so much... either way it's really cute.)

I love enjoying the little girl you are and imagining the amazing person I know you will become. You are so very precious to me. I love you with every breath.

Love,
Mommy

Our NOON Year's Eve Party!

What a great New Year's Eve! Today we packed up early and went to Lowry Park for an awesome "NOON Year's Eve" party. It was so fun! The kids got to take part in a Radio Disney Dance Party (which Kirsten LOVED), see and pet some animals, and take part in a great countdown to 2009 at noon! We celebrated with noisemakers and an apple juice toast. The perfect way to take part in the New Year's festivities and not start off the new year cranky from staying up late!

Here is K. Grace petting a llama

K. Grace hangin' with an ant (The boys were NOT going near this guy!)

This is the only shot I was able to get of the boys in their party hats...

Matty D... My party dude

...This girl knows how to celebrate!

Happy Noon Year's Eve!!

Our Early Christamas (A Little Late...)

Our Christmas celebration with the Taylor family was a little early this year (the weekend BEFORE Christmas). Somehow, I wasn't able to get my act together early... so I didn't have my camera with me (that's my excuse for posting these pictures so late). Luckily Grandpa Don is great with a camera and copies everything for us! (So I really don't have much of an excuse at all...)

We started the day with a family photo... It is not easy to get everyone in one shot but we did it!! Matt looks a little crazy... but other than that I think it's a good shot!

Here is Kirsten and her Uncle Jeff. To say that Kirsten idolizes Jeff is a HUGE understatement! Uncle Jeff is the coolest, greatest guy around! (Uncle Greg is awesome too... but not quite as good at winding the kids up!)

The kiddos got way too many toys... and they were all awesome!

Kirsten aka Hannah Montana

Have you read about how natural redheads are going to be extinct in the next 50 years? Well, the Taylors are certainly doing our part to make sure that doesn't happen! Allison (K, M, &D's cousin) has the exact same shade of red hair as the twins!

It was the perfect start to our Christmas celebrations... even though I didn't get pictures up until New Year's :)

2008 Wrap-Up

3,640 Diapers..............................................$910.00
145 Gallons of Milk........................................$565.00
20 Extra Large Containers of Baby Formula.................$415.00
32 Doctor's Appointments...................................$950.00
48 Prescriptions...........................................$640.00
28 Swimming Lessons, 5 Swim Meets, 32 Gymnastics Classes....$720.00
28 Toddler Music Lessons.................................. $168.00
365 Days with my beautiful children........................Priceless!

2008 was a wonderful year for Team Taylor. I still think it's all going too fast... but I'm trying to enjoy every moment with my little ones! Here are a few memories from our year!

January


February


March


April


May


June


July



August


September


October


November


December


Happy New Year!