Slumber party

Ok, so I don't know about you but we had a little bit of random thunder on Tuesday night at Royce Ave. Now, we try to be all about "fun" at the Leonard house. Ben and I both try to make thunderstorms a "fun" time so that Taylor won't be scared. So during our last random winter thunderstorm Ben, Zach and I all got in bed with Taylor, pulled up her blind, and watched the thunder and lightning. Well, tonight about 5 minutes after Taylor went to bed a random January thunder rumbled, sending her promptly out bed and screaming. Tuesday is Ben's basketball night, so Zachary and I went upstairs and got in bed with Taylor for an impromptu "slumber party". Both kids were so excited, they would not stop giggling. It was pretty cute. Taylor kept hugging Zachary, and telling me "Mom, I think he likes being in my bed". They were just adorable. I couldn't resist.. so I ran for my camera.

1 hour later, after 4 more trips out of bed & 1 to the potty. Both kids are in their own beds asleep. Ahhh..

Did somebody say baseball?

Ok.. so it might be a little bit early to start thinking about it... considering the season hasn't even started yet. However, today Ben and I bought airline tickets to New York City and better yet tickets to a Yankee game! Ben is pretty excited, since this is the last year the Yankees will play in Yankee Stadium and he will be fulfilling a life long dream to go see his team play at home. I am excited too, and can't wait to see the game as well as visit the city again. While we are there we are hoping to do some site-seeing, see a broadway play, eat, shop... oh, and of course we will also be celebrating our 7th wedding anniversary! Now we have 7 long months to plan and dream about our little get away. After all, anticipation is half the fun.

A book a day....

As most of you know.. I LOVE to read. I can remember being read to as a child every night before bed, and I remember as I got to be an older child reading for hours and hours. My idea of a perfect vacation is laying out in the sun with a good book. With that said, Ben and I both hope to have our children share that same love of reading someday. We read books with the kids every night before bed, and many times throughout each day. Here are some pictures of the kids "reading" with Mommy & Daddy.

Check-up

Today was Taylor's 3 year check up with Dr. Van Es. I am here to report she is 29.8 pounds, and 36.5" tall- 50% for both. Taylor made sure to demonstrate her ABC's for the Dr., and she was also sure to show him how old she is on her fingers. Overall, the visit went well... Zachary was amazingly good the entire time and just sat in his car seat "talking".

Tonight we are going to another Preschool orientation... I never knew this decision was going to be such a hard one. Grandma Terry is coming over to watch the kids so we can make it a night out. Here are a couple of pictures of guy-smiley and the 3 year old cutie.

5 months old

Zachary turns 5 months old today. I'm not sure if it's a 2nd child thing.. or what, but he still seems like such a baby to me... and I distinctly remember thinking Taylor was so "grown up" when she hit the 5 month mark. Different perspectives this time around I guess. Anyway, Zach is a pretty big Momma's boy so far! I'm enjoying it.. it has been nice to have a child who enjoys being held... although he can be a little bit on the high maintenance side. :) Zach loves to smile! He gives the biggest smiles, and he loves to laugh. He gets us all laughing when he really gets going. So far he seems to like doing things at his own pace, and he freaks out when it gets too noisy. He rolled over on big sister's birthday, but has yet to do it again. I am looking forward to all that is to come from our little boy... I just love that face!

Good Morning

Poor.. poor.. Zach. Either this child is going to make one great husband someday, or he is going to stay as far away from the girls as possible. :) I got out of the shower this morning only to hear someone screaming... ZACHARY! ZACHARY! ZACH...ARY! So, I quickly raced down the hall to see where the commotion was coming from... only to find.. Taylor (who was supposed to be sleeping) standing on the rocker in Zach's room leaning over the side of his crib screaming his name into his face. Now.. mind you this is before 7 am this morning, and Zach usually sleeps until 8. She had turned his light on, and decided he needed a little wake up call. When I asked her what she thought she was doing, she said "I was just trying to make him laugh".

RIDERS AND ROLLERS

Taylor's 3rd Birthday was a success! She had a very fun time, and it was so much fun for us to watch her really get into opening gifts and having a birthday party this year. Taylor recieved many, many fun gifts including a Care Bear, LeapPad, Strawberry Shortcake Doll, Paints, Stamps, Coloring Books, Clothes, Books with CD's & a bike from Grandma Terry! She was especially excited when Daddy arrived home from work with 2 great big CareBear balloons!

After her party was over, Taylor said- "Can I have another birthday?" We had to explain she would have to wait until next year! :)

Zachary decided big sister was getting an awful lot of attention.. so he made his own little mark on January 18th by rolling over from his back to his tummy for the first time! Yeah! We all were able to witness his first roll! Mommy was starting to think he wasn't going to roll at all.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TAYLOR!

Then...... and Now......

Today my baby girl turns 3. I remember this day 3 years ago so clearly. I don't think there is every anything like the day you give birth to your first child. She was born via c-section, after 12 hours of labor. She had a head full of the darkest hair, and she was so alert and awake. Taylor has been feisty, strong and independent since the day she was born... and we wouldn't want her any other way.

As a 3 year old she loves to TALK! Sometimes, I think the questions are never going to end...

So.. my little girl on your 3rd birthday I hope you are blessed and you have tons of fun! Mommy, Daddy & Zachary love you so much.

Things I have learned in the last 3 years from Taylor Anne:

1) How selfish I really was, and how to be a whole lot less selfish.

2) How laughter from a child really is contagious..

3) How to be silly again....

4) The real definition of multi-tasking...

5) How to stop and really enjoy the beauty in what God has made- rain, sunshine, snow, colorful leaves & of course Mr. Moon!

6) How much of a mess 1 child can really make.

7) The theme songs from Dora the Explorer, The Backyardigans, Wonder Pets, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse & Little Einsteins.

8) How to survive the day on as little as 1 hour of sleep.

9) How much fun it can be to sing songs.. over and over and over again!

10) How to really LOVE.

Happy Birthday Tay-Tay!

WORK-UP'S

This morning Taylor told me she wanted us to do Work-Ups. This is her way of saying she would like to do a work out video. I believe her exact words were- "Come on Momma... let's do work-ups.. it will be fun." Apparently, she knows how much I need to be doing them. So, after trying to dissuade her for a few minutes.. I gave in. Here are a few pictures of Taylor doing work-ups. You have got to love what her shirt says- "I want Candy". Perfect.

NO TIME TO TALK

This past weekend we had our friends down from G.R. Matt & Lesley have 2 kids- Grant who is 4, and Molly, 5 months. We had a great time, although when the night was over Lesley and I felt like we hadn't really had any time to talk. Perhaps, this was because we actually chose to spend the evening playing games with our husbands.. versus the usual split evening... of guys watching sports, and the girls chatting it up. Right Les?

Here is a pic of the kids.. before they went down for the night.

CARE BEARS

Evidently Care Bears are not the rage these days. Being the good Mommy that I am- I decided to ask Taylor what kind of a birthday party she wanted to have this year. I gave her a few choices- Strawberry Shortcake, Dora the Explorer, My Little Pony & Care Bears. Well, little did I know I was going to have such a hard time finding Care Bear party gear. I had no problem finding all of the other mentioned items... but no Care Bears. I guess Care Bears aren't cool this year. After 5 different stores, I was finally able to find some Care Bear items at a DesignWare outlet store. So- here's to the 3 year old Care Bear party. I hope she likes it!

I DID IT

After making fun of my husband for starting a blog over 2 years ago. I have finally decided to join the world of blogging. I am hoping this will be a fun way for friends and family to keep up to date on what is happening in the lives of Leonards. One of the fun parts of posting for me will be in reading the comments you all leave behind after my posts. So with that said- please COMMENT. Let's see how this goes....