Halloween Night

Despite my best efforts, all Taya really wanted to be was a princess. It didn't help that Adalyn was Cinderella. Taya asked if she could wear a crown with her witch costume, then she wanted to wear her princess dress up shoes, then she wanted princess make-up on her cheeks. Thanks Addie for letting Taya wear the wig. I really think it made the costume. Don't you?

Halloween

Halloween was a little crazy this year since it was the week right before we moved. Somehow, we fit it in. Taya was a "nice" witch (thanks to cousin Tasha for the costume). I thought Taya wouldn't really care as long as she got to wear a dress and I put make-up on her, but that wasn't the case. See next post...

Flower Girl Dress

Here's Taya's Flower Girl Dress for Aunt Kim's wedding. Horray!!! After much to-do, it fits perfectly and Taya threw a fit when I made her take it off.

Preschool

Mason Morse, Lilly Whiting, Ginger Petersen, Bethany Jensen, Taya Sturdevant, & Preston Lewis

Just the girls.

Taya started attending a co-op preschool this year. Basically a bunch of my stay-at-home moms were all going crazy trying to keep our 3 & 4 year olds intertained all day every day, so we rotate "teaching" 2 days a week for 2 weeks at a time. After my first day teaching I thought, "Wow! That really wasn't as bad as I thought it might be." Quite honestly, the biggest challenge was really Zoe. She was the total bully of the bunch. Taya, Bethany, and Ginger were a real three-some always wanting to all sit next to eachother and do just what eachother did. I have to say I think Taya's favorite "teacher" so far is Sister Lewis. Hats off to her!

Face Painting

I know, it's too early for Halloween. Too bad because this is great!! Janessa knows a friend who does this for a living and needed kid models to update her portfolio. It was free, we just had to allow her to be photographed. Tough payment.

Stubborn Girl

Lots of times as a parent, but by the time you get your camera out to document whatever act you're dying to get on tape, your child will not perform. That was NOT the case with this. Everytime I take Zoe in the water, she does this same thing. She'll hold my hand long enough to get her balance and then yank her hand away and refuse any sort of assistance at all as she continues walking into deeper and deeper water until she falls under and I have to resuce her (and yes, I did rescue her) and then she immediatly repeats the same exact act. I've tried nearly every flotation available for children and she usually likes them at first, but as soon as the newness wears off she either figures out how to get out of them, or just screams her head off. I've heard of fearless, but I thought eventually she'd grasp some sort of fear of drowning. I've considered not coming to her rescue quite so quickly in hopes to instill some fear, but I'd hate to have to convince CPS that I swear I hadn't intended for her to require recessitation.

Griffin's 2nd Birthday Party

Zoe Sturdevant



Griffin Day (birthday boy)

Taya Sturdevant

Ok, so the slip & slide wasn't as much fun as we all remember it. While most things are improved upon with time, I think this toy must have been scaled back to a more tame version due to injuries or something. Anyhow, the little kids didn't have a clue what they were missing.

At 15 months old, Zoe is now just barely toddlering along like a newborn baby giraffe. It is her preferred mode of transportation. It continues to amaze me just how obviously different her and Taya are already. Zoe spent a good 20 minutes just sitting in the mud watching everyone on the slip & slide. Taya would have been screaming until she was clean and then refused to go in the grass. Watching Zoe's personality come out is one of the best things about life right now. She sure does give us a run for our money though. She's a stubborn, yet sweet little thing.

I don't think Griffin had a clue it was his birthday, but that's just my opinion.