Taylor the Tornado

Remember how I talked all about my sweet, quiet, mellow second child?  The one who is so quiet in the car that you almost forget she is there?  The one who could smile her way out of anything?
Yeah.... where did she go?

She's actually a bit of an irony.  She is still all of the above... some of the time.  The rest of the time, she is E-V-E-R-Y-W-H-E-R-E. 

When she started crawling at 8 months, we started to see that she was SO glad she could be more independent.  She would crawl everywhere... on the fireplace, up the stairs, from the couch to the side table (ON TOP of the side table), under chairs, under tables, etc.  The kicker event happened when I was running errands and Stephen was helping Sydney in the restroom (for all of about 2 minutes) to come back and find Taylor sitting ON the little plastic picnic table we had for Sydney to color on.  Needless to say, that table is now in the garage.

When she started walking, it was that much worse.  Not only does she walk to get where she wants to go, but she leaves a trail behind her... pulling things off of tables (including full glasses of water), pulling things out of drawers (clothes, files in the filing cabinets), pulling trash out of the trash cans, throwing toys all over the floor (not to play with them, just to make a mess), pushing chairs along as she walks, pulling papers out of my work bag, taking things out of my purse... you get the idea.  She'll throw Sydney's books off the bookshelf and then try to CLIMB on the bookshelf.  We literally have to put all bags up high, we have almost all our drawers/doors either babyproofed or rubberbanded shut.  We have to move anything within reach on counters away.  And forget about the Christmas tree... those presents were all opened about 3 times each before they were actually given to the recipient.

You get onto her, and she'll look at you with that sweet, gentle smile... sigh.  I think we are in for it. 
Here are some examples of Taylor the Tornado... love her!

Who, me?  A troublemaker?  Naahh...

Before Taylor got to the room...

After... (this happens daily!)

Mmmm... eating grass.

Noodle head.

Trying to sneak up the stairs.

Another example of a mess...

Oops!  Did I do that?

Almost there...

Got it.  Thank goodness it's just a coaster and not a glass of water, scissors, pens, mommy's nice CAMERA, etc.

Ripping up magazines... then taking a bite.

Oh noooooo....

In contrast, here are some things her dramatic yet organized sister has done.  It'll be interesting to see how well they get along sharing a bathroom in the future!

This would be Sydney's version of a mess.

3 on one side, 3 on the other.

Breakin' it down

Check out Taylor and Sydney with their dance moves... one by one.

Sydney starts off by doing the Dora dance... with Dora underwear hanging out and all. ;)

Getting Schooled

A time that I thought seemed so far away is sneaking up on me, and I feel like decisions need to be made soon... and I don't feel prepared to make them!  I'm talking about Sydney attending school.

Technically, Sydney won't be ready for pre-K for another year and a half (whew...).  However, with her having a September birthday, we started facing a dilemma last summer.  We had to decide, for this school year, if we would move her up to the 3 year-old class (with kids who will be in the grade above her in school, but there would be a curriculum in place and it would be more like "school") or move her to the upper-2s class (where it would be mostly kids who will be in her grade, big majority who are not potty-trained, and more of a social skills/play class).  Since she was potty-trained and knew a lot of things (letters, spelling, counting, etc.), we decided to move her up.  When I found out the curriculum in that class taught them numbers up to 30, I felt good with my decision because Sydney can count to 100 (with some help with the order of forty/fifty/sixty).  I'm now really pleased with my decision, because Sydney has learned SO much... all the upper and lowercase letters, how to write her name, how to write letters and numbers, bible verses, counting, and we're even teaching her how to add at home.  She's a smart little cookie.

Which continues my dilemma... so, next year, all the kids in her class are eligible to go to pre-K.  It could be in a public school or they could continue at the daycare.  Sydney, of course, would not be eligible to go to pre-K in the public school.  We were supposed to put a check by our kid's name if they will be attending pre-K at the daycare next year.  I talked to the owner, and asked if Sydney could continue up in the pre-K class at the daycare, and they told me it wouldn't be a problem.

But, even if we move her to pre-K at the daycare, I will have the dilemma again the next year, when she will be pre-K eligible at the public school.  Should I have her repeat pre-K again at the public school?  (which I've been told is mostly social skills building).  Or should I have her move up to Kindergarten at the daycare, with the continuation of the same curriculum? (again, she'd be the young one in her class).  And if we do Kindergarten at the daycare, she would have to repeat Kindergarten at the public school.

Or should I have her repeat the 3 year-old's class again next year?

She has to repeat somewhere.  I'm just not sure where it would be best. 

I think I will move her to pre-K next year at the daycare and just decide from there. 

I've been comparing the curricula of public school to a nearby private school, just to keep my options open.  I just don't want Sydney to be bored.  I know it'll all even out in the end, but she's so smart, and she's going to be one of the oldest kids in her class, and that's going to be very apparent for a few more years.

I never really thought that I would worry about this... I am a September baby and I remember being bored early on... and this was before pre-K, before performance standards, before, in my opinion, we started aiming for one goal for all kids, leaving the high and low kids either not pushed enough or left fallen behind.

Sigh... what's a girl to do?

Trip to South GA

Stephen, myself, and the kiddos packed up the car and headed down to south GA to see Stephen's family for Christmas.  (Well, 3 days post-Christmas was when we went).  We stayed with his cousin and cousin's wife in their beautiful home in the Okefenokee Country Club.  It is beautiful... the epitome of what you think south GA should look like.

We had a great few days, including shopping, eating out, ice cream, sidewalk chalk, dancing, seeing family, hopscotch, lasso golf (fun game!), the playground, golf for the boys, golf cart rides, and more.

Pics from an early AM jog.

Watch out... Sydney's behind the wheel!

Ice cream break.

Dance party with Uncle Randy.

Playground time.

Sydney's hopscotch board.

Sydney wrote her name. :)

Randy and I are attempting cartwheels.

Her pants are really brown, I promise.

 

Resolutions

Ahhhh, resolutions.  They really are funny, huh?  I mean, let's face it... January 1 is really just another day.  But it does seem like a really easy place to start a new beginning.

Every year I make resolutions.  I try to stick to them, I really do.  Really.  Really?...

Well, so, last year, I decided to do something different.  Instead of one long goal for the entire year, I made little "to do" lists for each month, and my resolutions were to complete everything on those lists.  That worked out until about April.  Then, my regular to-do lists reigned and the idea went out the window.

But, there were two resolutions I made that I planned to stick to for the entire year.  First off, we wanted to make sure we prayed before dinner every night.  This has become such a success.  Now, Sydney reminds us if we forget (even in restaurants) and Taylor will hold our hands and say a beautiful "aaaaah" when we say "Amen".  Resolution #1: Success.

The other one was to run in 6 races.  I originally wanted to try to do one a month... something I'm so glad Stephen convinced me not to do.  In theory, one a month (or 12 a year total) doesn't sound that hard, but when you factor in frigid January and hot-as-Hades June, July, August, and September, one a month isn't so easy.

I did my first race in February... it was a 5K in Conyers, and only about 10 weeks after my c-section.  I then did one in March, one in September, one in October, and one in November.  Total 5Ks = 5.  Resolution #2: B-.  Technically, 5 out of 6 is 83%.  ;)

Moving onto 2012.  I have a few overall resolutions:

• Be healthier.  This goes beyond the "eat better" or "exercise more" mumbo jumbo.  I'm talking, giving up my Diet Coke addiction; making sure I take a daily vitamin; less processed foods; good skincare regimine; getting good night sleeps; lots of fruits and veggies; lots of water; etc.

• Less Facebook.  Let's face it... as much fun as Facebook is, it is such a time waster!!!!  I can get sucked in for an hour at night time so easily.  Then, I look back and think... what did I just accomplish?  Nothing!  So, I'm going to try to savor that precious free time and invest it in other more important things.

• Be a better homemaker.  This sounds weird, I realize.  But, I really want to focus on being a better homemaker, in the areas of cooking, crafts, gardening, and decorating.  I don't have one of those "go to" recipes for parties.  I can't whip up a batch of anything without having the recipe card in front of my face.  I am not very crafty.  I believe that craftiness is somewhere deep inside me, I just need to find it. My gardening skills stink.  And, I don't have the knack for decorating.  I would love to have $500 to go to Garden Ridge or Home Goods and just buy some really cool, classic items that would help tie my home together.  No, I take that back- I want to pay $500 for a cool interior designer to come in and tell me what to put where.  Pinterest is a site that will inspire me to try new things, and hopefully 2012 will be a great year of creative surprises.

• Be a better communicator.  My email account has been filled with unanswered emails.  I have been playing phone tag with friends for weeks.  I have FB messages I haven't responded to.  I just want to be a better communicator this year.  Return calls in a fast manner.  Talk to long lost friends more regularly.  Respond to emails in a timely fashion. 

There you have it... my 2012 resolutions.  They aren't exactly measurable, but I do know what the baseline data looks like, so I'll know how well or not well I will do a year from now. 

Happy 2012!

What a year!

2011 was a fantastic year... but where did the time go??  I can't believe 2012 is here!

I wanted to recap the year, since it was the best year of my life... all because I have my complete little family, which is such a blessing.  And also, because I have a terrible memory so this will force me to think back to everything that was done. :)

Trips: We traveled to many places this year, including:

• Waycross, GA (2 times)
• Callaway Gardens, GA
• Raleigh, NC
• Hilton Head, SC
• San Francisco & San Jose, CA
• Mountains of SC (several times)
• Nashville, TN
• Destin, FL (just me)
• About 100 different places around the US (just Stephen)

Fun events:

• A trip to see the circus!
• Taylor's Baptism
• Getting a new playground
• Camp GK
• Celebrating 6 years of marriage
• LASIK and ear tubes surgeries
• Sydney's 3rd birthday
• A new job for me
• A new position for Stephen
• Taylor's 1st birthday

2011 was a great year and I hope some things continue in 2012... friends, family, travel, celebrations, laughter.

Hopefully 2012 will also include a lack of sickness, lots of health and prosperity, and the removal of braces from a certain 31 year-old's teeth.

HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYBODY!

13 Months!

Taylor is 13 months old!!

1-1-2012 (Happy New Year!)

Taylor's had a great yet busy month.  'Tis the season, huh?  But she's had some fun accomplishments, including:

• walking like a champion.  She's getting to be pretty speedy.
• giving kisses when you ask for them.
• pulling any and everything off of tables... including filled glasses of water; heavy, glass candlesticks (that once were, and are no more); purses; containers; remote controls; food;... you name it!
• falling down the stairs.  (Yes, this is and was terrible.  Luckily, it was just the short section of stairs before they turn, so she rolled down about 4 stairs.  TERRIBLE.  Thank goodness for carpet.)
• playing peekaboo. 
• getting to be a fiesty little thing... still sweet, but is showing her determination when she can't do something.
• performed (ahem, rode in the cart) in her Christmas program.
• rode on a tricycle.

It was another great month!  Can't believe my little girl is now getting "into" her first year. 

Here are some pics from this month: