A brief history of time

Key West

2012-02-17T14:38:00.016-05:00

Well, half of Key West anyway. My camera broke halfway through our trip. The rest of the pictures will have to wait to until my mom's camera gets home.
So...Key West. Where to begin? We woke the kids last Thursday at 4am and drug them out into the cold. They were both confused and later cranky. I'll spare you the details of the flight, but at the end of it, at about 12:30pm all four of us were ready to see my parents. Within the hour my mom had made lunch and the kids were in the pool and our vacation had begun.
The next day we took advantage of the sunshine and headed to the beach. To say that Lilly loved the beach would be an understatement. To say that Jack even liked it a little would be a lie.
Jack didn't mind the beach actually, he enjoyed digging in the sand and picking up small shells and debris, but as soon as the waves came up on the sand and touched his toes he was done.

Lilly, however, did everything on the beach that you would expect out of a three and a half year old. She ran down towards the water and then away from the waves. She collected rocks and shells and coral. She dug a hole in the sand, filled a bucket and dumped it on Bryan. She even walked out into the cold water, with a little help from her Papaw. And, of course, Lilly showed off her beach style with her sunglasses.

After the incident with the water on his feet Jack found some refuge with his Grandma and she kept him safely out of the water.

See, into the water with Papaw.

In the shade, up by the picnic table Jack decided that the beach could be fun. All you need is a couple of shovels, and to stay clear of the water.

No problems with the water in the pool, though. Must be the waves that Jack doesn't like. Cause he sure loves the pool. Even on the day when the rest of us thought it was too cold to swim Jack wanted in the pool.

So, we all went to the butterfly conservatory instead. The kids, and because of that the adults, had a great time with the butterflies. It was almost like there was too much to see with only two little eyes. Jack was pointing and asking, "Oh dees?" and before you could answer he was pointing somewhere else.

Lilly charged ahead, trying to see everything that there was to see and then backtracked to catch what she missed.

This butterfly attacked Jack. I got my video camera out, but it all happened too quick. The butterfly was circling Jack and he was turning and turning and twisting trying to see it, but it was moving too fast.

Our only family photo. Yep, this is just about as good as it gets. Bryan's talking, Jack's fussing, Lilly is smiling, but not at the camera, and I, of course, look gorgeous.

This little fence was the perfect height for Jack to peak over.

My own little butterflies.

Butterflies really wore these guys out.

Sunset and sailboats off of Mallory Square.

Jack really started to embrace the laid back Key West lifestyle. He decided that during each activity he should be as comfortable as possible. On the bike ride back from dinner one night he took his shoes off, through them down on the street and then put his feet up.

Then, after his bath he kicked back to enjoy his milk before bed.

One cold morning Lilly and Bryan headed out together for a trolley tour. I'm not sure how much she learned on the tour, but she sure enjoyed riding on the trolley.

That same cold night we made the trek to Duval Street, the main drag (no pun intended), had dinner and did a little shopping...Lilly's new favorite hobby.

During said shopping trip Lilly somehow convinced Daddy the sucker to buy her an activity book with scissors. Here you see Bryan supervising the use of the scissors. Lilly spent the rest of her vacation cutting paper into small pieces. She cut up so much of her little notebook that she had to convince Papaw to buy her another one, or two.

Lilly, Jack and the giant sponge man.

Again, Jack took on the Key West lifestyle because that is, actually, a monkey on his back.

Lilly insisted on this picture with the turtles outside of the restaurant where we ate lunch.

This is about the time that my camera broke. We had a great time in Key West and hope to go back again (hint hint Papaw and Grandma). Hopefully, in a couple of weeks when my parents get home I can post some more pictures because there was a lot more fun to be had!

Super Bowl

2012-02-08T08:44:00.011-05:00

As I am sure you aware we, not Bryan and I, but the city of Indianapolis, hosted the Super Bowl this past weekend. Evidently that is kind of a big deal. So, Bryan and I, experiencing a lack of babysitters, sat down like adults and argued, dickered, negotiated and bargained for time so that we each could be involved in the week long party that our city put on. Don't worry, I'll spare you the day by day, hour by hour schedule that we came up with and I'll just touch on the highlights.

On Friday night, after much wheeling and dealing, Bryan went downtown with some friends to see the Super Bowl Village and just walk around downtown. Zionsville, in an effort to cash in on some of the Super Bowl dollars, hosted some fun activities of their own, and even provided a free shuttle from downtown to the village and back again. The main attractions, for kids at least, were an inflatable toboggan run with a bounce house underneath and a synthetic ice skating rink. Tania and I took our kids to this while our hubbies partied it up downtown.

Like I said, the ice skating was synthetic, hard white plastic sprayed with some kind of oil. It was similar to actual ice skating, but seemed to be less slick. This was perfect Lilly and Avery. They could more easily step, and eventually slide, without losing control. They both did really well and we think the girls might be ready for real ice.

Lilly got a little cocky and even tried some of the moves that she saw at Disney on Ice, even attempting a slow spin.

On Saturday I met Brecq and Everette at Super Bowl Village, and Kristy joined us later. Of course, I had these plans for over a month and of course, Saturday is the only day that it was not 55 degrees and sunny. Oh well, the weather seemed to thin out the crowds and we were able to find an escape from the worst rain in bars and restaurants throughout the day.

Here we are on the circle, if we had turned even slightly the big XXVI that was on Monument Circle would have been behind us. Oh well, everyone has that picture.

But, only the Giants and Brecq and I got to get our picture taken with the Lombardi trophy!

I wanted to include some pictures from Bryan's escapades downtown, but he didn't take any...or at least he didn't show me any. And, I guess there was even some big football game on Sunday.

Disney on Ice

2012-01-30T09:22:00.005-05:00

Last weekend Tania and I took Lilly and Avery for a girls' night out. We had dinner and went to see Disney on Ice. It was a great night and all four of us had a lot of fun.
The girls had no idea what to expect and were a little confused about who exactly would be ice skating. More than once Lilly reminded me that she didn't have any ice skates. But, after we got our must have $22 Rapunzel hair we found our seats and the show started. Neither Avery or Lilly, who are very outspoken little girls, had much to say after that. Tania and I had to laugh because both girls watched the entire show, wide eyed with mouths agape without moving or saying a peep, from our laps.
This picture was taken during intermission and as you can see we could barely keep their attention even then. Without a sports photographer and professional camera it was hard to get good action shots of the skaters because they moved so fast, but I did manage to snag this one of Cinderella.
Finally, after the show was over and the crowds began to thin, I was able to get Lilly to pose for a picture with me. But again, she had a hard time peeling her eyes away from the ice for even a second.

"What about Jack and Dylan?" You ask... Well, Nathan was out of town so both boys stayed with Bryan. The house was trashed, but both boys were fed and in their jammies when the moms got home. Bryan said they watched Mickey Mouse cartoons, rode together in Jack's car and even shared some teddy grahams. Although, Jack doesn't seem too excited to be sharing his snack. When Bryan sent this picture to Tania and I the caption read, "Um, excuse me, but would you mind getting your hands out of my f-ing teddy grahams?" It seems like he guessed pretty well what Jack was thinking.

Thanks again for inviting us Avery and Tania!

Oh Deess?

2012-01-12T21:13:00.007-05:00

When I first started my blog my intent was to share my family's day to day lives with you and record the normal events of Lilly's life. However, I have kind of gotten away from that and have recently noticed that I have only been posting when our family does a special outing or event. I'm going to try to remember what my original goal was and include more of Lilly and Jack's normal lives and because poor Jack has kind of been left out of the last few I will make this one about him.
At 14 months old Jack is the comic relief of our house. He is a good natured little guy who rarely gets upset, and when he does it's usually because he's hungry. And, that's rare since he spends most of his time eating and snacking. Some times the eating gets pretty serious and he has to wear his new bike helmet. I got it for him the other day in preparation for our trip to Key West, where he'll spent quite a bit on the back of my bike, but he wanted to wear it all the time. He's actually eating breakfast here.
But, clearly the helmet is warranted because this is how Jack lets us know that he is done eating and ready to get down.

He's also a very helpful little boy. I had separated my laundry and was getting ready to do a white load when he decided to help by spreading all of the separated laundry around on the floor. Actually, he entertained himself for over half an hour loading the laundry into the basket and then spreading it around, and doing it all over again. So, of course, I let him.

One of Jack's favorite places to play is in Lilly's room. The strangest thing about this is that she really doesn't mind. In fact, she will often find him in there and play nicely with him.

Jack has four teeth now, two on top and two on bottom, and he will rarely let you see them. You have to be quick with the camera to get a picture of them, and I am not. That's why you can't see them in this picture, but I thought it was cute anyway. He's carrying his old fashioned lawn mower toy through the living room and evidently it's pretty heavy.

Jack also enjoys a cruise around the house in his car. He doesn't seem to mind who pushes him. In this picture Jack isn't wearing any pants and he is drinking while he drives so maybe it's best that Lilly is actually in control of the car. She pushed him into his room, came around and opened the door for him and then parked the car while I put his pants on him. The title of this blog, "Oh deess?" is Jack's trademark phrase. He points at, grabs, or indicates any number of things and says, "Oh deess?". As far as we can tell it means, "What's this?" or "May I have this?" or "Hey, have you seen this?" It almost always seems to be a question and Lilly even has started asking Jack, "Oh deess?" when she wants to play with him.

I know that eventually he'll learn to talk and, as I've discovered with Lilly, talk back. So for now I'm pretty happy with "oh deess" and "mama". Thanks Jack-A-Roo for making us smile.

Dancing Queen

2012-01-05T21:09:00.005-05:00

As you know, Lilly has been taking gymnastics classes at Interactive Academy for well over two years. What you may not know is that for most of the last year Lilly has looked longingly from the gymnastics floor to the dance class area. She has watched 'Angelina Ballerina', made up some of her own moves, and even dressed as a ballerina (technically a butterfly ballerina princess fairy) for Halloween. Bottom Line: Lilly wanted to dance.
Only one problem. IA didn't offer dance for anyone under four. Well, not anymore...they added a dance combo class for girls ages three and four. We were in! They do a little bit of tap, a little bit of ballet, and a little bit of gymnastics. And, best of all she wears a cute little dance outfit and will have a recital in May! But, let's not get ahead of ourselves, tonight was only the first class.
Here's Lilly all ready to go, her dance outfit is under the sweatsuit and her shoes are in her dance bag.
All dressed and ready to break it down in her tap shoes.

What makes a dance class even better? Taking that dance class with your best friend!

Just hanging out with attitude.

Ok, I can't give a play by play of what's going on in all of these pictures, but I couldn't stop taking them either.

Tap-a-tap-a-tappa...

They're just like the Rockettes.

They're supposed to be getting instructions for gymnastics, but all they can talk about is dancing.

Lilly had a great time at her first dance class and couldn't wait to show her daddy what she had learned. Unfortunately, when we were all home and I was telling him about her class Bryan started asking some questions and calculating how much, after tuition, the leotard, tights, skirt, tap shoes, and ballet shoes, the class was actually going to cost. He started getting pale and seemed a little nauseous until Lilly came in, beaming, still in her leotard and wearing her ballet shoes, stretched out her leg, pointed her toes, and said, "Look what I learned tonight, Daddy!" The paleness and sick face went away immediately and I think he has forgotten that we even have to pay for the class.

The Night Before Christmas

2011-12-26T14:20:00.004-05:00

...and the next morning.
Christmas Eve was a day of questions in the Traylor house. Questions about Santa, how he would get into the house, what he might do while he was here, when he was coming, how the chimney worked. All sorts of questions. We explained things in the best way we could, by telling Lilly that Santa is magic. When that explanation led to more questions we gave up and admitted ignorance, explaining that no one really knows how Santa does it, that no one has ever seen him because he simply won't come if you are awake or out of bed.
This led to a quiet panic. Lilly, who usually is anti bed time, brushed her teeth, used the potty and climbed into bed without a word of argument. It was about that time that we realized that Bryan and I realized that we had forgotten to leave Santa some cookies. We got Lilly out of bed to make a plate for Santa. She seemed really uneasy about the whole thing, looking around like maybe he was already here, and putting the cookies and carrots on the plate without any nonsense. As soon as we set the plate down on the fireplace she was back in bed quick as could be. Then, a true Christmas miracle occurred: Lilly went to sleep without any requests for drinks, potty trips, stories, songs, band aids, etc. She even asked us to close her door so that she wouldn't accidentally see Santa.
Cookies for Santa and carrots for the reindeer.

Bryan and I were lucky enough to get some pictures after Santa came, but before the kids got up.
Jack and his new car and track.

Lilly loves to brush, comb and style hair. All hair other than her own, obviously.

Even though he got quite a few new toys Jack is still partial to his puppy.

Opening a present.

Jack may be the first Traylor ever to dunk a basketball...or even make a basket.

The best part of Christmas when your only one? The pile of trash.

Santa also visited Grandma and Papaw's house. He left a horse there for Lilly, Jack and Samantha. Clearly, Bryan doesn't trust Lilly to keep Jack from being bucked off.

Please note: Lilly received her very own camera for Christmas so there aren't many pictures of her as she preferred to be the one taking them. And, she rarely held still long enough for a picture.

Thanks to everyone who thought of my kids this year at Christmas. They are very fortunate for there are many, many people who love them and help to make their holidays and every other days special. And, for this, Bryan and I truly grateful.

Merry Christmas everyone. Until next year....

Polar Express

2011-12-23T15:29:00.003-05:00

Last Thursday our little family did the Polar Express train ride. The train leaves from Binford Ave station and heads through Fishers and then onto The North Pole (aka Noblesville Town Center) to pick up Santa and Mrs. Claus. On the first leg of the trip everyone was served hot chocolate and cookies while we watched Christmas lights pass. And then, on way back Santa visited with each of the kids while the Mrs. led the car in Christmas carols and passed out a little gifts.
This was the best I could do at a group picture. The kids were more interested in looking out the windows and, in Lilly's case, visiting with her new friend across the aisle than they were in getting their pictures taken. Bryan lucked into taking this adorable picture of Jack looking out the window and is now convinced that he should quit his job and follow his true calling as a child photographer.

Lilly posed with Santa, but choked when he asked what she wanted for Christmas. Jack, on the other hand, panicked and froze with terror when Santa spoke to him.

The train was a great time, but would probably be more fun with a bigger group. Who wants to join us next year?

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree

2011-12-23T14:38:00.007-05:00

Last year Lilly went with my mom and dad to get their Christmas tree. They took her to a place that they had heard about from some friends, but had never been to before. They had a great time and decided to include Jack and I in the invitation this year. We all had so much fun that the kids and I brought Bryan back that weekend to pick out our Christmas tree.
Dull's Tree Farm is north of Zionsville and kind of a hike, but well worth the trip. Obviously, there are lots of trees to choose from, but there are also little Christmas shops, a wreath barn, a couple animals and a barn loft with slides, tunnels in the straw and big underground slide outside.
On our first visit with Mom and Dad Lilly worked up the courage to explore some of the tunnels in the straw maze. She was a little braver when we came back the second time and a nice brother and sister pair went with her.
Jack gets in on some sliding action with a little help from Papaw.

Walking in straw is harder than you might realize.

The tunnel to the slide.

And, of course Lilly's favorite of the tree farm was all of the friendly kitties. Although, the one that brought her a dead mouse as a gift led to a lot of questions on the ride home.

Return trip with Daddy. Proudly pulling the Traylor tree to the wrapping station.

After quite a bit of thought and assurance she decided to try the big underground slide with Daddy.

It is basically huge PVC pipe buried in a hill. Needless to say, they shot out of there like a rocket and Bryan was repeatedly shocked with static electricity.

Lilly's eyes were the size of saucers when they came out of the bottom of the slide. But, she immediately wanted to go again.

Decorating the tree. The ornaments are pretty much all in clumps and groups and most of them have been moved up out of Jack's reach. Nothing on the tree really matches and there is no rhyme or reason to the decorating. In short, it is our worst decorated tree ever...and we couldn't be more happy or proud. There was also a moment or two of confusion about the Christmas tree skirt, but we got it all straightened out in the end.

Morgan's Birthday...

2011-12-04T09:54:00.006-05:00

This year, to celebrate Morgan's 15th birthday Bryan's entire family gathered together in Eastern Kentucky for a huge turkey dinner. There was turkey, dressing, broccoli casserole, mashed potatoes, gravy and several desserts among other things. All for Morgan's birthday...that just happened to be the same weekend as another holiday, Thanksgiving.
After dinner on Thursday Bryan's dad, a private pilot, took Bryan, Matthew, Lilly and Jack to see the new jet he has been flying. Grandma went along too, but I don't think she was too interested in the jet. Wes claims that he has invited her up to see the jet several times and she was never interested...until the grand kids were. Rumor has it that Wes is a very talented and reliable pilot, but I don't think I would trust his copilot. Bryan and Jack on the jet. Hope Lilly doesn't get too attached to this pillow.

After the big turkey dinner Morgan's birthday celebrations continued on Friday night at Gattiland, a pizza buffet for kids with games and prizes. Think Chuck E Cheese only nicer and with better food and games.

Morgan's cake.

Morgan was kind enough to share her birthday with Lilly. Lilly got to help blow out candles, make a wish and open gifts.

Morgan was pretty excited about all of the new clothes that she got for her birthday, but you could tell that Lilly felt sorry for her because she didn't get any toys at all.

Clearly, Jack was upset about the lack of toys too.

Jack love his first ride on a carousel. He was clapping and waving at Lilly and everyone standing around watching. When the ride would end he would point to the place where you put the money in and grunt. With two parents, two grandparents, an aunt and a couple of cousins there was obviously a stampede to put more money in and start the ride again.

Morgan, a most gracious birthday girl, used her prize tickets to purchase a princess crown for herself and Lilly. Something about Lilly in her crown, pearl necklace and assorted other jewelry, riding a monster truck in Eastern Kentucky just stuck me as funny.

Girls' Day

2011-11-19T14:04:00.005-05:00

One of Lilly's best friends, Avery, turned four on the 14th of this month. To help her celebrate Lilly and I thought it would be fun to paint some pottery together. Tania, Avery's mother, and I decided to add brunch and make it a hole Girls' Day Event.
Here are the girls at brunch. They each ordered a pancake and a scrambled egg. They each ate exactly half of a pancake and half of a scrambled egg. Next time we'll know. At least Tania knew to bring coloring activity sheets. Here are the girls displaying their work.
After the long and drawn out process of choosing which piece of pottery to paint the Lilly and Avery picked their colors (which actually only took a few seconds) and then got to work painting.

Avery really concentrating on her castle bank.

As her second piece Lilly chose to paint a very nontraditional rainbow on her rainbow bank.

The unfinished finished products before firing. Avery's are the castle and the horse. Lilly has the butterfly box and rainbow bank.

So proud of their work.

I picked the pottery up a week later and we tried to get a picture of the girls displaying their works of art. This was pretty much the best we got. They mostly just wanted to play with Avery's toys during the pottery drop off and photo shoot.

So, we just put the pottery on the dining room table a take a picture. That worked a lot better. Pictures are substantially easier to take when there are no children in them. But, nowhere near as cute or funny.

Cowboy Birthday

2011-11-13T20:50:00.016-05:00

Like all good birthdays, we celebrated Jack's 1st for exactly one week. David Jack Traylor turned one on Thursday, November 10, 2011. But, we got a jump on the party the weekend before. Bryan's parents, sadly, had to miss the party so they decided to come up the weekend before and make a mini birthday party. It was great. It gave Jack a chance to practice opening presents...although Lilly had to give him a brief lesson. Very excited about his new blocks.

The next day we went on a walk at Starkey Park and threw some rocks in Eagle Creek.

Now that he is a year old Jack has graduated to the backpack carrier.

Lilly chose not to walk the entire time.

Walking makes Jack very sleepy. Even though he didn't do any walking.

Later that night Jack got to blow out a candle on the Traylor's traditional first birthday cake: A lamb covered in coconut. Bryan's Nana has used the same recipe and mold to make a lamb cake for everyone in the family's first birthday since anyone can remember and she reins to Jo when Lilly was a year old.

On Jack's actual birthday I planned a nice dinner that I thought he'd enjoy, bought a little cake at the grocery store and had everything ready for our little party. However, due to a glitch in communication and planning Jack and I had to take Lilly to gymnastics at 5pm. That made it almost impossible to follow the plan. So instead, on the way home from the gym we stopped at the house, picked Bryan up and headed to El Rodeo. Jack was just as happy with his birthday beans as he would have been with beef stroganoff. We stopped by Target for some last minute party supplies and then headed home for cake.

Jack did exactly what he was supposed to do with his cake. We sang and Lilly helped blow out the candle.

Then, Jack smooched his little hand into his cake, rubbed it all over his high chair tray,

and his face.

At this point Jack was all warmed up and ready for his Cowboy Birthday Party! Or so we thought. The party started at 3pm. I planned Jack's nap accordingly, but somehow at around 2:15 he was cranky and sleepy. I put him in his bed and he rested for about a half an hour and woke up ready to party just in the nick of time.

Jack and Grandma inspecting the balloons.

The cake....and Jack's little smash cake.

David Jack and Grandpa David.

Just walking around in his cowboy shirt.

Playing with the girls.

Gifts for Jack. He even opened a couple.

Goody bags for the kiddos.

Jack was not as enthusiastic about this cake as he was the first one. In fact, after we sang to him he looked around and immediately started crying.

Finally eating a little bit of his cake.

Jack opening his gifts. Bryan did not have this crazy look on his face during the entire gift opening time, but this is the only picture of Jack actually helping open a present. Bryan and I along with some of the other kids had to open most of them.

This drum filled with assorted musical instruments was that gift. It was very popular with all of the kids, and almost none of the adults.

I was at the party too...and helped open some gifts.

Jack's favorite thing to play with was, of course, this little plastic piece that was part of the packaging for one of his new toys.

Cute little face.

Dylan is eyeing Jack's new Little Red Rocket ride on toy that Bryan and I got for him. I'm sure D will get a turn. Kristy and Samantha.

As the party died down the kids decided that they were hungry for more than just party snacks. So, I served up some good old fashioned peanut butter and jelly, veggie straws and cottage cheese. Clearly, Georgie takes his meals pretty seriously.

Thank you everyone for helping us to celebrate Jack's first birthday! And, a special thanks to Tania for taking all of the pictures.

Happy Birthday Jack! We love you.

Halloween IV

2011-10-31T21:48:00.010-04:00

Halloween was a lot of fun this year, mostly because Lilly started getting excited about it several weeks in advance. It was also the first year that she was able to choose her own costume. She started with wanting to be a ballerina, then a princess, then she saw a pair of wings and wanted to be a butterfly, then moved along to fairy, and back to ballerina. She paused briefly to consider a pumpkin, then wanted to be a rainbow. It was around this time that I regretted telling her in advance that Halloween was coming up. After several other ideas Lilly finally settled on a Rainbow Butterfly Ballerina Princess Fairy. I had her sign a contract agreeing to this. Then, after having it notarized I started work on the costume.
Jack didn't care what his costume was so I decided that he should be a dragon. When I went to get the dragon costume I saw this adorable monkey costume...and it was on sale. That was a lot easier than the Rainbow Butterfly Ballerina Princess Fairy.
On the Wednesday before Halloween we took the kids to Boone Village for the annual Halloween Party and Trick or Treat event sponsored by local businesses. Lilly entered the costume contest and won second place in her age group. We didn't enter Jack because his costume wasn't homemade and I didn't think that was fair, but later regretted it when the winners for his age group were all store bought costumes and our little monkey was much cuter. Lilly was very proud of her trophy and was reluctant to let me carry it so that she could finish trick or treating. Which didn't seem right to me...since it was kind of my trophy...cause I'm the one that actually made that costume...

On the following weekend in a rare twist of events I was invited out with some friends for an adult Halloween night out. Clearly, we dressed up as famous

characters from cereal boxes. We had Corn Pops, Lucky Charms, Tony the Tiger, Shredded Mini Wheat, Count Chocula, Toucan Sam, and the Cheerios Bee. Our plans for the actual day of Halloween were a little bit like last year's plans. Instead of driving around from house to house, we just invited everyone over to our house. So, Lilly and I thought it would be nice to make some Halloween cupcakes for everyone. Jack wanted to help too. He thought we might need some Tupperware to put the cupcakes in after they were finished. We didn't, but I had to wash it all anyway.

Lilly stirring the cupcake batter, even though the mixer already did it.

After a refreshing rest Lilly decorated the cupcakes with some festive sprinkles.

Lilly's wings and bun. She was equally proud of both.

Jack the monkey. We don't know if he liked his costume or not. This is the only facial expression that he ever really makes. But, most people agreed, he's pretty cute.

Lilly finally dropped the 'princess fairy' part of her costume. So, here's the monkey and the Rainbow Butterfly Ballerina together right before we headed out into the neighborhood.

The whole family. Crazy.

Lilly and her friend Georgie...I mean Woody.

Lilly and Avery. Lilly appears to actually be taking flight in this picture while Rapunzel poses with her friend Pascal.

Wes, Kristy, and Samantha the butterfly joined us for a little trick or treating. Samantha was disappointed when she realized that no one was handing out Enfamil.

At the end of the evening Lilly was worn out and ready to ride in the wagon. As we headed home we passed by a house with the porch light on and a friendly neighbor sitting out front. When Bryan asked her if she wanted to climb out of the wagon to go to the door she said, "No, can you just go get my candy for me?" We continued on home.

While we trick or treated my dad handed out candy at our house and my mom went for pizza. Mark, Debbie and Mandy DeWeese joined us for a mini Halloween party with dinner, treats and even delivered treat bags for Lilly, Jack and Samantha. Thanks everyone for all of the fun!

Walking the Plank

2011-10-24T21:02:00.004-04:00

That's right, I said "walking". He doesn't go too far, but Jack is getting braver and braver and takes a few more steps every day. He seems pretty proud of himself after he has walked a few steps and is trying to do it more before dropping down to crawl at top speed.
Jack kind of has a crazy little gate. He lets go of whatever he is holding onto, takes a couple of normal steps, then a couple of little quick ones and then hurries, trying not to fall forward.Oh yeah, and he has pirate jammies.
Complete with a skull.

Clearly Jack isn't walking in this picture, but the rest of us were about to go for a walk. I just thought Wes's and my matching baby carriers were kind of cute.

Chili Supper

2011-10-18T15:38:00.002-04:00

Last weekend AppleHammer Events hosted another great event at our family cabin in Parke County. Please see the May 3, 2011 blog for more details on the cabin. This weekend was all about the first Chili Supper and Lilly's first overnight at the cabin. The plan was for my Uncle Chris and my brother Wes to each make a pot of chili, everyone would bring something to share and that's about it. We'd sit around the fire, maybe ride the four wheelers and clear a couple of trails. Bryan and I thought this family friendly event might be a good time for Lilly to test out her new sleeping bag. As it turns out she didn't need it because she slept in Bryan's...with him.
There aren't many pictures, because as I mentioned, only Bryan and Lilly (and Papaw, Mark, Wes, Kristy and Samantha) spent the night on Friday night. I wasn't there to act as paparazzi.
Papaw and Lilly by the fire relaxing before bed. Lilly was very excited to camp and quite specific about what she wanted on her list: hot dogs and marshmallows. Obviously, I sent a few other things, but she cooked her own dinner over the fire and later sat in some marshmallows.
Rehashing the night's events with Daddy. From what I hear Lilly eagerly went to bed on her own cot, in her own sleeping bag. Then, took a couple trips to the potty, requested a few drinks of water, and later decided that she'd like to sleep in Bryan's sleeping bag with him.
Nothing beats coffee, or hot chocolate, by the fire in the morning when you are camping.
Too bad about the lack of pictures because there could have been some good ones. As always, just being at the cabin was a good time and we can't wait to do it again.

Falling for Fall

2011-10-10T08:50:00.020-04:00

As I have said before, Fall is my favorite season, but it is not Bryan's. He sees Fall as the beginning of the end. He hates cold weather and thinks of Fall as the start of winter. Luckily for him it was 80 degrees this weekend and we had outdoor Fall activities planned for both days.
Day 1: Saturday. We planned on walking to a nearby Pumpkin Festival and meeting some friends there. But, they got there first and reported back that the Pumpkin "Festival" was nothing more than a couple of folding tables and a pumpkin or two. So, we altered our plan and went to Trader's Point Creamery Organic Pumpkin Festival. And, like anything that begins with the word 'organic' it was ridiculously expensive. We paid $10 a person to get in. Then, ate a lunch of hot dogs and potato salad: $30. Yes, you read that right. I thought I was going to have to pull Bryan off of the guy at the register. He double checked the math, threw 30 tickets at the guy and stormed to our table, where he consumed every last bit of the 100% organic outrageously priced meal. After that, he bought an equally overpriced beer, that seemed to calm him down and he made the best of the rest of the day. We were already there, after all, and into the day 50 bucks. Everything else was included so we trudged on.
Lilly and Avery picked out a pumpkin for each of the kids (another $4) and then the three that were capable painted their pumpkins. Pictured here are Lilly with her pumpkin and Bryan with his beer. The beer was expensive, but he was much less likely to assault an organic creamery worker if he had a nice cold one in his hand.
Because lunch was so expensive Jack had to eat his pumpkin. Just kidding. Actually, the best deal of the day was the $4 (half) soft pretzel that I bought for Jack. He ate the whole thing, throughout the course of two hours. But, he actually ate it. Crazy.

I know this is strange, but this is a mother...caught on camera. (Gasp!) Of course, the picture was taken by another mother. Tania and Dylan painting his pumpkin. The painting was messy so Dylan took off his shirt. Luckily Tania could be trusted to use the paint carefully.

Face painting. Surprisingly enough TPC can't seem to afford professional face painters so they have teenage volunteers doing the painting (with organic paint I'm sure). Unfortunately the volunteers were some of the least artistic people I've every met. Lilly's rainbow wasn't too bad, but Avery's heart was either anatomically correct or just a crooked circle with a smudge. Dylan's football was enough that Tania, a rather talented artist, want to grab the brush and siege a hostel take over of the face painting booth. She even considered charging as a way to earn back what we spent on lunch.

Despite discontent amongst the adults, the girls...and even Jack and Dylan, had a good time and mostly just enjoyed each other's company. Also, pictured here is Avery's good heart. It was the one on the other cheek that was messed up.

We later went on the free hayride, visited the farmer's market and then made a speedy exit. Bryan and I spent $70, left in bad moods and decided that next time we'd just have a play date with the Framptons and bring our own pumpkins.

Day 2: Sunday. We picked my dad up and met Wes, Kristy and Samantha at The Dump (or, The Country Market rather). Their Pumpkin Fest is the best in town...or just north of town. Its reasonable to get in, kids get a free pumpkin, there is live music and everything is included except for the pony rides. And, if you can find a better deal than a two lap pony ride for $3 then I'd like to know about it.

After a reasonably priced lunch of pork tenderloins, a hot dog and some french fries for $16, Lilly started her day off with a little calf roping.

Donkey petting.

The donkeys and Jack had a little bit of a stare down.

The best way to travel at a pumpkin festival when is 80 degrees? On someone else's shoulders.

Papaw and Lilly on the big slide. Lilly can actually go down the slide by herself, but she gets a little bit more speed with Papaw or Daddy riding shotgun.

Daddy and Jack on the slide. Jack probably couldn't go down the slide by himself. He didn't seem to like it, or dislike it. Like most things he just accepted it without even changing his facial expression. Lilly didn't seem to enjoy the barrel train ride as much as in previous years. No, it wasn't going that fast and no, clinging desperately to her seat was not out of necessity.

There is a track there with lots of big wheels and peddle cars. Lilly needed a little help with hers.

Jack's favorite part of the day was picking out his pumpkin. Well, I guess he didn't even get to pick out his pumpkin. Lilly chose it for him, along with her own, but Jack spent a long time just hanging out with the little pumpkins and playing.

Lilly slowed down just long enough for me to get a picture of the two of them together. Then, she noticed the sign behind them and was up and running again. Ok, so she probably noticed the actual ponies and not the sign, but she headed that way anyway.

While Lilly and I waited in the pony riding line Daddy and Jack practiced walking in the pumpkins.

Watching Lilly the cowgirl ride the pony.

Lilly riding said pony.

Getting a boost from Daddy to see the ponies. Maybe next time he will want to ride too.

Crazy...another picture of a mother. Proof that I also was at the Pumpkin Fest.

Bryan thinks he's funny. Strangely enough, I do not agree.

But, I think this is funny. Lilly, Jack and Papaw think they're pretty funny too. Bryan and Wes pose with the babies. Samantha had so much fun at the festival that she passed out and slept through pumpkin picking, the corn maze a most of the picture taking.

One of the best parts of the Pumpkin Fest is the corn box. It is very much like a sandbox, but with corn instead. This means no sand in the hair, no sand in the diaper, no sand in the shoes, etc. The only problem is that Jack thinks the corn is there for a snack.

After watching a little boy bury himself in the sand, Lilly insisted that she be buried too. She loved it.

Jack, not so much.

More (and much, much better) face painting.

The corn maze was pretty easy, just following the beaten path. But, Lilly has never been a follower and she wandered off...right into a dead end. She even lead Papaw astray.

After all the fun Lilly picked out a couple of carvers, loaded them into her wagon, realized it was way to heavy, asked Daddy to take one, and then headed to the car.

It was a great day and we followed it up with a family dinner at our house. Now its Monday and we're all worn out. Bryan has the day off and I have plans to go shopping with my mom. To top it off Bryan just informed me that he'd like to take both kids to the zoo...alone...all by himself. This will be the first time he has every taken both kids anywhere without another adult. That may end up being a whole other blog....

Steppin Out

2011-10-05T10:01:00.009-04:00

All four of us stepped out this weekend for some fun activities. Even Jack. Although, I didn't manage to get any pictures of him doing any actual stepping. Most of the pictures of Jack he is either sitting or riding, but I assure you, he did take some unassisted steps.
Bryan was recruited to go with my dad and brother and help wire our family's cabin. So, I took the kids to a friend's birthday party in our neighborhood. We traveled the old fashioned way, a wagon. Jack seemed so content that I just left him in the wagon for a while. I had to add goldfish crackers, but he seemed to enjoy himself.
Lilly's first experience with a pinata. After several kids had multiple turns with two different 'bats' the birthday boy's uncle had to step in and break the pinata, but as you can see by the look on her face, Lilly gave it her best effort.

On the way home both kids rode in the wagon. If we lived more than three doors away I think they both would have fallen asleep.

On Tuesday the kids and I took advantage of the beautiful weather and ventured out after naps to take a walk and do some outside playing at Grandma and Papaw's. Lilly can't climb a tree quite yet, but she sure likes to sit in them.

Can you spot the squirrel?

It may be dirty, but its a pretty little face.

Jack did a little swinging...and some chewing on a leaf.

During our walk Papaw showed us a puff ball mushroom that he found. It took all of Lilly's willpower not to kick it or squish it. Lilly is now the fourth generation of Applegates to throw rocks in Eagle Creek.

Jack, Hank and I try to get in on the rock throwing action. Sadly for Hank, he has to be physically restrained because the temptation of a rock thrown into the water is too much for him to resist on his own.

When walking in the woods, you can always count on Lilly to find a nice log to take a rest on.

After our walk Jack did a little driving...or sitting rather. He can't quite figure out how to make it go. He mostly just climbs around inside the cozy coupe.

At least he's facing the right direction this time.

In a devastating event, our fun day ending with an attempted car jacking.

1,731 Miles

2011-09-28T14:47:00.022-04:00

After a years of talking about it and planning, along with a couple of date changes, Bryan and I finally loaded our family in the car on a Sunday morning and headed out to visit his sister and her family. Conveniently enough, we waited until the Maynards had made the move from Germany to Ft.Rucker AL, which happens to be less than two hours from Destin FL. We put 1,731 miles on my car and spent 33 hours driving, but it was way easier than trying to drive to Ansbach.
Lilly and Jack did great in the car and we planned on taking our time and making long stops, even one over night. So, the trip wasn't bad, just long. But, we had lots of fun. So much that I can't even tell you about it all, all I can do is share some of the 109 pictures that I took.
We started the trip at about 11am on Sunday, September 18. The first leg of the trip went really well and we made it till just south of Louisville KY. We stopped there for a quick lunch and then got back in the car. Everyone was in a great mood and traveling well and we decided not to push our luck. We stopped again at Mike's Rock Shop and Fun House near Mammoth Cave in Kentucky. Bryan and Lilly took advantage of the bargain price of $1 to tour the fun house while I fed Jack. Bryan said the fun house was actually overpriced, but Lilly enjoyed it.
For another $.25 Lilly even got to ride a ride.

And, visit with 'Mighty Mike'.

After another couple of hours in the car led us just south of Nashville TN to a Country Inn & Suites. The kids were so excited to be out of the car that they thought the cheap hotel was the vacation. They were wild in the hotel room and loved playing with the air conditioner!

The next day we made it all the way to Enterprise AL in record time. We

welcomed at the Maynards' with dinner from the grill. Then, back to the hotel for the night. Lilly took advantage of Bryan's Tuesday morning conference call to relax in the hotel room with a cup of Cheerios and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. She looked so cute in the big hotel bed with all of her pillows and companions that I couldn't help taking a picture. After a tour of Ft.Rucker and Enterprise we returned to the Maynards' for a brief rest before Morgan, and later Matthew, came home from school. Lilly and Morgan made a cake for dessert. It was their favorite flavor. Pink...with pink icing.

Later that night Jack and Mika did a little bonding.

Strangely, whether it was a baby toy or a dog toy, Jack and Mika always seemed to be interested in the same thing at the same time.

Bryan and Ed used their after dinner family time to play on their smart phones.

On Wednesday while Ed worked, and Matthew and Morgan were at school, Cammie, Bryan, Lilly, Jack and I went bowling on base. I didn't bring socks for Lilly from the hotel, so we had to buy her some. These were the smallest they had.

Bowling, along with no naps and constantly being on the go was little too much for Jack and he fell asleep.

But, he (and Lilly) both perked up when Morgan produced a small chihuahua puppy that she was puppy sitting for. Jack stiff arming the puppy when it was climbing on him.

But, the puppy turned the tables later by corning poor Jack away from the adults.

Lilly, Jack and Gracie ganging up on Matthew.

Morgan, Lilly and Gracie. Lilly was very excited about the puppy. When she woke up from her nap and we introduced her she smiled from ear to ear and shrieked, "My very own puppy?!" Um...no.

After the tour of Enterprise and Ft.Rucker the only thing left to do was pile back into the car and head to Destin FL. Cammie, Bryan, Lilly, Jack and I drove down on Thursday morning while Ed worked and Matthew and Morgan went to school. After checking in and going out to lunch we put the kids down for a nap and Cam and I went to the store. After that we lounged pool side for the rest of the day and sent Bryan out to bring home dinner.

The pool was awesome, and perfect for my little swimmers. It was enormous, but had a gradual entrance on one end, like a beach. Jack loved it.

Until he crawled into deeper water and realized that his rear tires floated.

Bryan by the pool. Lilly loved the waterfall. There were several, but this one was near the shallow end and she could play in it.

Here's Jack on Friday morning when Bryan took Lilly to the pool, and later the beach, without him.

Lilly loved the beach and even made a friend. Apparently, when your dad brings you to the beach without any planning or forethought other moms and kids will take pity on you and share their toys.

Jack wasn't a huge fan of the ocean at first. I think the sound of the waves scared him a little. But, after digging him his own private sea and allowing him to play in there for a while he got a little braver.

Jack rocking his beach body.

Matthew, Bryan and Ed rocking theirs. Bryan bought his tank top for the beach (I'm still not sure if it was meant as a joke or not) and then Ed and Matthew bought theirs to make fun of Bryan.

Jack didn't get a tank top, but he did wear his old man hat and Colts shirt. I also think he is trying to break into the cooler while his dad and uncle aren't looking.

This is one of two crabs that we (Bryan) caught while we were on the beach. This crab was much harder to catch, though. Probably because, upon inspection, the first one was actually dead.

Back at the house and ready for dinner. Jack got a little tired of waiting on the girls so he played a solo game of hide and seek.

Best. Dinner. Ever. I don't even remember the name of the restaurant but, when you think of sea food, this meal is what you picture. Lobster, king crab, snow crab, dungeness crab, shrimp, mussels, and clams. All steamed and served with lemon, drawn butter, potatoes and corn. Oh yeah, and a bib and trash bucket.

Near the restaurant there was a train for kids running up and down the board walk. Lilly was desperate to ride. After hearing how far the train went Matthew decided Lilly might need a chaperone. And, with his big cousin going along we thought Jack might enjoy the trip too.

Bryan's major purchase of the week (other than gas and the above mentioned dinner). He just had to buy this UK headband for Lilly.

Last day and everyone is in the pool. Please note: Cammie and I were on this vacation too. Again, you would never know it from the pictures that a mother gets to do things with the family too.

We just told Lilly that we were leaving after her bath.

All week the kids were exhausted, but never so much as the ride home. Lilly rarely sleeps in the car, but she passed out cold when Bryan carried her into the oldest Best Western ever north of Birmingham AL. She remained asleep when I put her jammies on her, but did wake up enough to apologize for not helping, "I'm just so tired." she said as she grabbed for her blankie and rolled over.

We made it home the next day at about 8:30pm after a meager 10 hour drive. All four of us were ready to be out of the car. But, we had a great time with the Maynards and can't wait to go back. The rental house was really nice, the beach was perfect and the weather was great. I think we'll make it an annual trip. But, eventually we'll have to find someplace for Jack to sleep other than the walk in closet in Bryan and I's bedroom. And, I think we'll fly.

School Daze

2011-09-08T11:04:00.008-04:00

Those of you that know me know that I like things like plans, schedules, calendars and lists. I don't enjoy surprises and 'spontaneous' is not something I completely understand. So, it's no shocker that I was the first in line on January 24 to sign Lilly up for preschool at The Ginger Bread House. I signed her up, paid the fees and marked my calendar for the first day of school and the parent meeting the night before. I even made a note of it on my mom's calendar because I knew she would need to babysit. Then, something prompted me to realize that I had made an error and I changed, on all three calendars (mine, my pocket calendar, and my mom's), the date for the parent meeting to Wednesday night, the night before school starts.

Wednesday Lilly and I picked out several new dresses, I ironed them, got Lilly a haircut and prepared her for school. Then, we met my parents for dinner. That way we could all eat, and the kids could go home with them and get their bathes on time while Bryan and I attending the parent meeting. A well thought out plan, right? This is where things started to fall apart. As we eagerly walked into The Ginger Bread House lobby for the meeting we were stunned to see that it was empty except for a table of four ladies. Teachers, I assumed. They weren't. But, they were kind enough to inform me that the parent meeting was the night before. I felt like the worst mother ever and I knew I had just blown any chance Lilly ever had to succeed in school.

I was determined to get the first day right and not be 'that mom'. Lilly got up at about 7:15 and she was as excited as could be for her first day of school. I made muffins the day before so her favorite breakfast would be all ready to go, with the addition of a scrambled egg, of course. I got dressed, dressed Lilly and Jack and offered Jack some Cheerios (that he ate for the first time...which was not in the schedule). I took a couple of pictures and went to load Jack in the car before taking a couple outside shots, complementing myself on being ahead of the schedule. That's the exact moment that I realized I had left his car seat in my mother's car the night before. Lilly was to be at school at 9am, it was a quarter till. In about a half a second a debated all of my options (which included calling Bryan out of a meeting, dragging Kristy and a newborn out in the rain and asking a stranger who happened to be jogging by to please watch Jack for ten minutes ), but instead I called my mom in a near panic. The conversation went something like this; Mom:"Hello?" Me:"You have Jack's car seat". Mom:"I'm on my way". Me:"Hurry hurry hurry!" Click Me:"Hello?" About four minutes and thirty seconds later my mom pulled in my driveway and I all but threw Jack at her as she tried to get out of her car.

No worries though, I got Lilly to school on time, just before the doors opened and found out that the parent meeting is optional and evidently a lot bigger deal to me than anyone else. Whew.

Lilly's first day of school breakfast and her lucky jammies. Picture with Daddy.

Brand new school dress.
"Mom, you're embarrassing me."

Coming out of class in a line with her new friends.

Showing off her bucket. At GBH the kids carry buckets to and from class instead of backpacks. I think most of the class time today was spent decorating the buckets.

Lilly was a little nervous going into the school for the first time, but seemed more at ease once we went into the classroom. Her teachers, Mrs.Numminen and Mrs.Snider are very friendly and Lilly was eager to check out all of the toys in the classroom. We said a quick good bye and she turned to play at the kitchen with another little girl without looking back. I took this as my cue to leave. Today was unique in that half the class met for and hour and 15 minutes and the other half met for the other hour and 15 minutes. On Tuesday all eleven kids will be there for the full time. So today, I just enough time to go home and get Jack and do some grocery shopping. I dropped off the groceries and went back for Lilly. I didn't expect how proud I would feel when I saw her walking out with her class, in a line, carrying her bucket. We waved to the teacher and climbed in the car. I was anxious to hear every detail of her first day of school, but Lilly disappointed me when I asked her to tell me about school by saying, "Maybe tomorrow." So, I tried a different route and I asked specific questions about what I knew they did. "No questions", she said. Seriously?!

I know she had a good day and Mrs. Snider filled me on a couple of details, but I guess we'll all have to wait until tomorrow to see what Lilly thought.

The Labyrinth

2011-09-05T16:15:00.006-04:00

Early this morning Bryan tried to leave the house to golf with a friend. After going with him once last weekend, Lilly assumed that she would forever be Bryan's only golf partner. Needless to say, she was devastated when he left without her and she cried and cried. I promised that we would find something much more fun than golfing. After a little bit of thought and research we decided on Stuckey Farms and headed north for a corn maze and some apple picking.
We...well, I decided that we'd get the corn maze out of the way and then pick our apples. You know, that way we...well, I wouldn't have to carry a bag of apples through the maze. Wow, what wouldn't I have given for an apple after nearly an hour in the maze with no end in sight?
We rode the tractor shuttle through the apple orchard, past the pumpkin fields and over to the corn maze. The old man that dropped us off laughed and said, "If I don't see you by dark I'll come in after ya'." I thought he was kidding.
The corn maze was ten acres, professionally designed and carved out with GPS technology. The corn had been planted so that the double rows intersected diagonally and you couldn't see through them very far. We...again, I marched in arrogantly thinking that we would hit all nine checkpoints and be out in less than the hour they predict. I quickly realized that this maze was not what I expected. It was very difficult. Jack was getting fussy, Lilly was getting tired and asking to be carried and I had to pee. After about a half hour I was starting to get nervous and decided to just head back the way we had come. That wasn't as easy as I thought it would be either. I was starting to wonder if the old man that drove the tractor would actually come looking for us like he promised. I eventually cheated and cut through the corn to get to a place that I recognized and then we easily headed out.

Obviously, we made it out. And, before you judge me take a look at the map. Please note: This map was located at the entrance/exit and was the ONLY map I saw the entire time. There was a map on the back side of the paper that they gave us to make a rubbing at each of the check points, but you had to find the red clear plastic checkpoints to view the map. You needed a map to find those checkpoints. I took this picture of the map with one of my two cameras on the way OUT of the maze. Sure do wish I had thought of that on the way in.

Finally picking apples.

We were both very hungry and Lilly ate two apples all by herself after the whole corn maze situation.

Even though we got lost in the maze and skipped lunch Lilly admitted that she had more fun at Stuckey Farms than she did golfing with Dadddy. Yeah Mommy!

Panda Bare

2011-09-02T14:00:00.003-04:00

Early last fall my uncles, Tom and Irwin, took a trip to China. So, I was not at all surprised when, upon Jack's birth, this adorable stuffed panda arrived from the Build A Bear Workshop from them. I was, however, quite shocked when, two weeks later, a package arrived containing these traditional Chinese pants for babies.
Um...thanks guys. You'll get my carpet cleaning bill.

One Man's Trash

2011-08-21T19:43:00.004-04:00

While traveling on Highway 334 today I couldn't help but notice a perfectly good air conditioner box on the side of the road. Why someone would just throw it out I will never understand. Surprisingly though, I was able to convince Bryan that we should go back and get it. We pulled over and quickly shoved the box into the back of our car while Bryan hummed the theme from 'Sanford and Son'. Then, we sped away before any of our friends happened by and noticed us picking up trash off of the side of the road. We brought it in and declared that it was Christmas in August while Bryan cut a door and two windows.
Lilly immediately made it feel like home by filling it with toys from her room.
Jack was pretty excited about the box too and mostly enjoys crawling out...

...and in the door.

This blog was brought to you by Lennox...and whoever got a new air conditioner near RL Turner on 334. Thanks.

The Fair

2011-08-18T15:09:00.019-04:00

Well, I talked Bryan into going to the State Fair again this year. Every year it gets a little easier. This year after a very busy and stressful week, he agreed to come home a little early on Monday, the night of the free rodeo (the only free thing at the fair). Then, his work scheduled changed, he got home later than he expected, Lilly had a runny nose, Jack wouldn't take a nap, and the rodeo had been canceled. But, we stopped for gas, took out a second mortgage to pay for the fair and headed towards the fairgrounds. On the 30 minute drive from our house to the fair Bryan's phone rang about 50 times and he couldn't answer it because Jack screamed the whole way and Lilly asked a million questions about where we were planning to park our car. This was going to be a fun evening. At least it was probably the first time in history that the Indiana State Fair didn't fall on the hottest day of the year.

Besides the nice weather, that included a breeze (very rare for the fair), it wasn't very crowded and there weren't any lines.
Of course we began the evening with Lilly riding a pony.

Then, we did 'Little Hands on the Farm' and Lilly received another Pioneer Seed Company hat. I took the last one, Jack wanted this one. Please get a good look, this is the only picture of poor Jack that I took all night.

Next, we stopped by the petting zoo. Jack was quite taken with a goat and Lilly fed this baby cow some grain. She also fed a piglet. The piglet snuffed and snorted, tickling her hand for a few minutes and ate maybe two pieces of grain. The cow on the other hand only touched her for a millisecond and inhaled all of her grain before turning away without a second look.

And, the giant slide again. Only, this year the look on Lilly's face is more joy and less terror.

While I fed Jack and finished my own dinner Bryan took Lilly on the tractor train that circles the entire fairgrounds. As Lilly is the only person in the world who doesn't eat at the fair, dinner time was a perfect time for this ride. I waited and waited to get a picture of them when they came back around and this is how I found them. Lilly was not asleep, but if the train had continued on for another five feet or so she would have been.

Finally, Lilly sat on a pig and we all went home.

Lilly, Lilly Quite Contrary

2011-08-16T09:12:00.018-04:00

At the end of last summer Lilly showed a little bit of interest in my dad's garden. By spring of this year she had her own. Papaw spent his winter months working on a picket fence complete with a gate so that Lilly could have her very own garden. Then, Papaw and Lilly went shopping so she could pick out exactly what she wanted to plant. She chose flowers, peas, flowers, corn, flowers, carrots, and more flowers.
When my dad asked me what I thought Lilly might want to plant I told him that she would probably like to grow some corn. To which he replied, "I'm not messing with corn.". Well, I was right, Lilly wanted corn. They planted two rows.
The gardeners headed up to the house to get their watering cans after planting their seeds.
Watering the seeds. This was the last time that Lilly actually did any work in "her" garden.
The gate was pretty much Lilly's favorite part of the garden at this point.
Things are starting to sprout.
Still interested in the gate, though.
The best way to get to and from the garden. What good is a garden if you can't show it off to your friends? The first pea harvest. Lilly and Papaw ate most of the peas, raw, while standing in the garden.
The first ear of corn.
Scare crow. Mostly he looks friendly, though.
Lilly and Papaw in front of the garden with every thing in bloom.
Lilly's favorite part of the garden was picking her flowers. And, when she ran out of flowers in her own garden, Papaw was happy to share the ones from his.

Thanks for the garden Papaw. I had a great time in it this summer!

Stand and Deliver

2011-08-06T11:05:00.004-04:00

What more can I say? Jack is standing, and clearly he's pretty proud of himself.

...and some times kind of annoyed that I'm taking pictures.

...but, mostly he's just happy that he's found another way to potentially hurt himself on the brick hearth.

Headlines!

2011-07-29T14:27:00.014-04:00

Several important and notable things have happened in the last week or so that are blog worthy. However, instead of devoting an entire blog to each event I have decided to skim through them like you would the Sunday paper and mention only the headlines. Here goes...

Jack Says "Mama".

Actaully, he says "Ma Na", but its clear what he means. This, obviously, isn't a picture of him saying, "Ma Na", but I can't really get a picture of that. He only says it when he is crying or distressed and I think it was after this bath, which Bryan gave him, that he said it for the first time. And, he looked pretty cute in his little tub anyway.

Lilly Discovers Lip Gloss.

And, she discovers that her father will do almost anything she wants. When Lilly asked Bryan about opening up the lip gloss he readily agreed. I'm sure he thought she would be the one wearing it. Unfortunately for him, she had no interest in wearing any, but she did want to put some on him. Well, actually she wanted to put a lot on him...and a tiara.

Jack Pulls Up And Stands

...on some paper towels that I haven't put away. He has been pulling up a few other times, but this was actually the first. Today, in fact Jack tried to stand while holding onto Lilly's step stool in her room, sadly, he lost his balance and bumped his cheek.

Jack Discovers The Dog's Water.

Jack LOVES the dog water. It is his new favorite toy. If I turn my back on him for even a second he is heading for the water bucket as fast as he can. And, that is surprisingly fast considering he is still dragging himself along using only his big toes, one arm and a hand. When I see him and say, "Jack NO!" He just looks at me and goes faster. I might as well have shouted, "Jack HURRY!"

Lilly And Jack Have Started To Play With Each Other

Which means they are only a short time away from fighting with each other.

Leap Of Faith-Lilly Jumps Off The Diving Board

As you know, Lilly has been taking swimming lessons since early June. At the very first lesson her instructor assured me that by the end of summer Lilly would be swimming under water and jumping off of the board. I doubted him. But, he was right on both accounts.

You had to know that I couldn't just list the headlines without a little bit of explanation to go with it.

Something to Blog About

2011-07-18T14:36:00.011-04:00

We've had a pretty relaxing couple of weeks, as far as our social calendar is concerned. Other than the Fourth of July, we haven't done a whole lot that I can blog about. But, that doesn't mean we don't have new things to share, we just haven't had many plans...and its been great.

Like I said, we have plenty to share and the kids continue to grow, regardless of our plans. The biggest news may be that Jack is up and on the move. He has recently started sitting up on his own. It took a while and I was beginning to think he was lazy. But, he must have decided it was time because one day I sat him on his little bottom and he just stayed there...before intentionally rolling onto his belly and crawling away. By crawling, I mean dragging himself along on his tummy like a army recruit scurrying under a barbed wire fence. It may not be graceful, but he gets where he wants to go and he can get there pretty quick if he's motivated.

Here he is, taking advantage of Lilly's nap time to play with her doll house and eat some of its people.

Another blog worthy event is Lilly's swim lessons. She loves to play at the pool, but hasn't ever been a huge fan of leaving the steps. We've all tried to coax her out into the deeper water and even attempted to teach her some beginner swimming, all with not much luck. So, we decided to hire a relative stranger, Alex Masten, to come over and teach her and her friend Avery how to swim. Both girls have progressed at a rapidly and are right on target for their age. Lilly looks forward to her lesson and loves her teacher. She blows bubbles, puts her head and face under, kicks her feet, attempts some strokes and even jumps off the edge to Alex. The next step will be to use a kick board and maybe jump off the diving board to her teacher.

One day at lessons Avery showed up with the same suit on. Unlike adult women, Lilly and Avery were delighted that they had on the same swimsuit on the same day and in the same place.

Jack likes the water too, but isn't quite ready to join in the lessons. Although, I doubt we'll have any trouble getting him into the pool when its time.

July 1st..and 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th

2011-07-07T16:39:00.010-04:00

For the third year in a row Bryan's sister, Cammie, and her family, along with Bryan's parents, joined us for the fourth of July. As usual, we kept busy and had a blast. But, this year was made even more special by the fact that July 4 came on the heels of the Maynard's move from Germany back to the US and the fact that Ed was able to join us. Celebrating Independence Day with a soldier and his family brings the holiday into a whole new light and makes me appreciate that I get to spend every holiday with my family.
Every year the kids in our neighborhood put together a small parade on the morning of the fourth. And, every year we stand outside and watch it and say how much Lilly would have liked to have been in it. Well, this year we were prepared. Morgan helped Lilly design and decorate a head band to wear. Then, a few of us (not Bryan, kind of a sore subject) made tie dyed shirts to show our spirit. See, look how much fun we're having. Granddad, Lilly and Jack practicing for the parade.

Cammie and Jack. Jack misses his aunt Cammie, she was always there to change him, feed him and hold him while I did other things. It was the most liberating weekend I've had since he was born. I miss aunt Cammie too...

Third of July fireworks: because you just aren't American if you don't spend your mortgage payment on explosives.

Heading off to finally be in the neighborhood parade!

Morgan and Jack sat the parade out, but still wore their new t-shirts.

The parade. Courtney and Aiden stopped by for a visit just in time to join in on the fun.

Everyone in their new shirts.

Later, we headed down to the park for some inflatable fun and later the fireworks. Lilly loves the inflatables and didn't even need Matthew's help this year.

She was so proud to climb up all by herself and then slide down.

Lilly didn't need Matthew to help her climb up the slide, but she still took advantage of him for a shoulder ride.

I love fireworks and worried for days that I was going to have to miss them because Jack would be afraid. I even bought him some ears plugs and had an emergency exit strategy when the show started. It was all for nothing. Jack fell asleep before the fireworks started and never even flinched when they started going off. But, you can see the little green ear plug.

A League of Her Own

2011-06-27T14:28:00.005-04:00

I am very proud to introduce my new niece, Lilly's cousin.
Kristy and I have joked for several years that because Lilly has been the only child and a central part of our entire family for almost three years that any other children would just be known as Lilly's brother or Lilly's cousin. For anyone who has seen 'A League of Their Own' recently you get the joke that my parents might introduce their granddaughters by saying, "This is our granddaughter, Lilly. And this is our other granddaughter, Lilly's cousin."
Well, that is not the case because Samantha Lee, born on June 20, has stolen the show. She is a teeny little thing at 6 lbs 6 ozs, but I can already tell that she is going to have big attitude. Wes and Kristy brought her home less than a week ago and she is already in charge of their house.
Samantha at the hospital, resting with her lamb.
Lilly giving Samantha a copy of one of her favorite books. This book just so happens to be one that Kristy always liked reading to Lilly. Clearly, Samantha is not happy with her gift...and Lilly doesn't seem to be too thrilled to be giving it either. I hope this isn't the begining of a rivalry.

Congratulations Wes and Kristy. I am so excited to watch Lilly, Jack and Samantha grow up together and become friends and playmates. But...maybe not Jack quite yet. He is very interested in his little cousin and he also has much better motor skills, that's why there is no picture of the two of them together. Jack has Samantha by about ten pounds and she just doesn't seem safe around his grabby little hands and pokey little fingers. Don't worry though, we'll get a comparative photo soon enough. We may have to tie Jacks hands down, but we'll get one.

The Great Outdoors

2011-06-19T21:34:00.002-04:00

Last night Bryan and Lilly had their very first camp out. It started off with a bang and Lilly was very excited. Very excited! She asked Bryan about a million questions while he set up the tent, then requested several items for the tent. She asked if she would have a sleeping bag and if she could bring her pillow. When those items were confirmed she asked for more...books, toys, and, of course, Monkey and Blankie. After all that was taken care of and settled Bryan built a fire. Again, a million questions. She wanted to make sure that Bryan knew they would need marshmallows, sticks, and plenty of other random things.
It took over an hour to get everything ready for the camp out. Then, it took about 10 minutes to roast marshmallows, followed by jammies and teeth brushing. Finally, Lilly and Bryan both settled into their sleeping bags. I opened the window so I could hear them and all I heard was more questions. "Um, Daddy? What's that noise?" "Um, Daddy? What are you doing?" "Um, Daddy? Is that thunder?" "Um, Daddy? Are you scared?" After about an hour, they came inside and went to bed. As Bryan carried her from the tent to the house she was pleased with the success of their backyard camp out, telling Bryan, "That was fun!!"
Sitting by the fire.
Roasting marshmallows.

And, finally in the tent.

Maybe next time....

Relay For Life 2011

2011-06-19T20:49:00.005-04:00

This past weekend was The Rowdy Bunch's third Relay For Life event for the American Cancer Society. Our team was small this year, but we still raised $3880 in donations, luminarie sales and our on-site fundraiser, selling chicken salad sandwiches.

We started the day by watching Lilly's gymnastics class do a demonstration.

Then, we opened up shop and started selling Debbie Deweese's homemade chicken salad. Here's our booth.

Lilly and Avery manned the 'lemonaide' stand and people couldn't turn them down. Avery is a born saleswoman, yelling at passersby to buy some lemonade.

After a long hot day it was time for the best part of Relay, the lighting of the luminaries. Bags are decorated and lit to honor friends and family who have suffered from cancer. Bryan lit the bag during the ceremony that represented grandparents.

Here are some of the bags that we made...

Lucky Number Seven

2011-06-15T13:14:00.003-04:00

Last Friday Jack marked his seventh month off of the calender. He's usually pretty happy and a laid back and easy going guy so, he opted to spend his day in a pretty low key way.
He lounged in the pool.

And, played on the floor, practicing his own unique crawling technique. He puts his head down, rolls onto his side, pulls his feet and knees under him and then pushes off. It has a very 'inch-worm' look, but it is effective and Jack gets where he wants to go...until someone turns him around.

Lilly, not so laid back and easy going, still got in on the lounging action in honor of Jack.

Bathing Beauty

2011-06-06T16:16:00.005-04:00

Its officially summer, the pool is open and ready for swimmers. Last year Lilly had to ease herself into the pool and then coaxed off the steps. She was just starting to love it when it was time to close the pool up for the season. We worried that it would take half the summer to get her excited about swimming again, but that wasn't the case at all. On Memorial Day, the first day that I took her to swim, we met Wes, Kristy and a couple of friends at the pool. She didn't waste any time stripping off her sundress and asking Uncle Wes if she could get in. He said 'yes', of course, and she spent the rest of the day in the water, only coming out to demand snacks or drinks.
Too cool for pictures.

Jack seems to really like the water. Like everything else, he took to swimming like it was no big deal...as long as he can bring his giraffe along.

I'm so brave...I'm posting a picture of myself in a bathing suit on the internet...granted I'm under the water.

I don't know if this actually counts as swimming, since Lilly's not even touching the water, but she sure thought it was fun.

...and another person to carry her around in the water.
Lilly started swim lessons today, so maybe next time there will be some pictures of her actually in the water and not just being carried over it.

Cincinasty

2011-05-23T10:43:00.011-04:00

In an effort to avoid making a five hour drive, but still visit his parents, Bryan and I thought it might be fun to meet them in Cincinnati, a half way point between us and them. On paper it was a great plan. We 'pricelined' a nice hotel downtown and planned to visit the Newport Aquarium, a park and the Cincinnati Zoo. We would walk around downtown, eat outside and enjoy have a nice visit while doing something a little out of the ordinary. Jo and Wes even decided to go on Friday night to celebrate their anniversary. Bryan and I woke the kids up early Saturday morning and headed out. Everything was going great. We left on schedule, which is rare for us, and made the trip in record time. The kids were great in the car, Lilly watched a movie and Jack slept the whole trip. We met at the zoo and everyone was excited to get in and see the new baby giraffe. This was about the time that things started to get nasty.

Don't let the title of this blog fool you, Cincinnati is a great city, but Lilly sure was nasty. I don't think she felt all that great and we knew that the night before, so maybe it was our fault for making the trip anyway and not canceling, but she seemed just fine on Saturday morning, even excited to go on a car ride. She was clingy and didn't want to talk to or be talked to by anyone except her mom (which is super fun for me too, by the way). It was also almost 90 degrees and she didn't want to look at any animals, or talk about any animals, or ride any rides, or do any activities at the zoo...except get her face painted. What she wanted was for me to carry her...almost all day. As the day went on things just got worse, until finally Lilly fell asleep in the stroller.

We found a quiet spot to rest while Lilly took her nap and then found a playground before heading to the hotel. Like I said, we used priceline.com to reserve a nice hotel downtown. We thought we got a real deal when The Millennium Hotel accepted our $60 offer. What we didn't realize was that they intended to put us in the ghetto of their south tower. The room was comically small especially after we set up Jack's portable crib, the tub didn't drain and you couldn't hear yourself think over the air conditioner, oh yeah, and we ran out of bottled water in the middle of the night. It was the first time that all four of us have ever shared a room and it was a less than ideal situation. Lilly and Jack took turns waking each other up every 45 minutes until after 4am and the air conditioner and uncomfortable double bed kept Bryan and I up the rest of the night. But, morning finally came and we checked out of the hotel (without Lilly's beloved friend Monkey and Zebra) and headed to the aquarium, getting lost on the way. And that is why I called this blog 'Cincinasty'.

The gorilla at the Cincinnati Zoo. I usually am against going to the zoo and taking pictures of the animals, but it was hard to resist when she was posing for us. The highlight of the day was when Lilly got her face painted for the first time. She was very excited and picked out the fairy wings. I have never seen her hold so still.

Lilly loved her fairy wings. She even sat on Bryan's lap for a little while and stared at herself in his sunglasses.

After the train ride disaster Lilly took a nap in the stroller while Jack slept in his carrier. Yes, Jack was in Cincinnati with us, but there are no pictures to prove it.

At the end of the day and on our way out we passed a small playground. In hind sight we should have just gone to a park because Lilly had a great time at the playground and even met a friend. I realize this isn't a picture of the playground, but this little bamboo forest was right next to it.

Later Saturday night, after dinner. Enjoying some ice cream by the fountain downtown. It really doesn't matter where you are, what you are doing or when you have eaten last, if you ask Bryan's dad for ice cream, he will get you some.

Jack did make it in a picture, but refused to look at the camera. Wes, Lilly, Jo, Jack and Bryan pose in front of the fountain.

Sunday at the aquarium. For whatever reason Lilly really enjoys an aquarium. I don't know if its the fish, water, or what...but she had a good time on Sunday. Here, in the amazon section, Lilly and I are feeding a bird. We had to get a friendly stranger to take our picture because Lilly and I are the only ones who braved the aviary...most Traylors seem to have a healthy fear of birds.

Waiting patiently for a shark to swim by in the shark petting pool. I don't think she ever got to pet a shark, but Lilly enjoyed splashing the water just the same. Posing with the penguins. I don't think she quite trusted these guys, she would turn away from them to look at the camera.

All jokes aside, we had a pretty good time. It was a lot of fun to meet Bryan's parents somewhere different and do something a little out of the ordinary. Hopefully next time we try to deviate from the norm Lilly will be in a better mood.

Story Time

2011-05-17T10:22:00.002-04:00

I don't have a cute story to tell or a funny anecdote to relay, just that when I was finished cleaning up after bath time last night I came into the living room and found this...

JUST JACK!

2011-05-10T21:43:00.005-04:00

Jack is six months old today. In honor of this sacred event I am posting pictures of Jack only. He doesn't do a whole lot, but we're sure proud of him. He rolls over, he's working on a couple of teeth and he has just recently started reaching out for toys and people, but he's still not sleeping through the night. Jack's hobbies include chewing on things, watching Lilly and Hank and touching people's faces. He is a sweet little (I use that word loosely) guy and he almost always has a smile for everyone.
Just relaxing today. Jack doesn't sit up yet, but he can be propped against any number of things.
It just happened to be 85 degrees today so Jack was able to embrace his redneck roots and hang out outside in nothing but his diaper. What a great opportunity to show off his new diaper jeans.

After dinner we celebrated Jack's 1/2 birthday by walking to town for ice cream. Well...Bryan, Lilly and I had ice cream...Jack slept.

Six months is a big deal because it marks the begining of solid foods. Jack has been eating rice cereal and a little bit of oatmeal for almost two months, but now he can try some other 'real' foods. As you can see he has barely mastered the rice...he still can't seem to keep 100% of it in his mouth, but he enjoys it anyway.

When they are little kids change so much in the first year and from month to month. We can't wait to see what you do next. Happy 1/2 birthday Jack!

Pittsburgh

2011-05-04T15:21:00.009-04:00

A couple of months ago I got off of the phone with my best friend and said wistfully to Bryan, "We should go see Courtney". I assumed that I would get a scowl and a comment about the six hour drive. Instead, he said, "Set it up. We can visit my aunt and uncle too." And a trip was made.
We arrived on Thursday evening after a long, long car ride. We learned a lot about traveling with two kids instead of one and also a little about traveling with a new pottier. For one thing, she's got our number. If she wants to stop and get out of the car for any reason all she needs to say is, "I need to go potty." and we are pulling off at the next exit. This has never worked for me. Anyway, we finally made it to Pittsburgh and felt very welcome staying with Aunt Peg and Uncle John. We had a cook out that night and included Courtney and her kids and also cousin Amy, please see the 'Lonesome Dove' blog from November 2009 for more on cousin Amy.
The next day we headed to the Children's Museum to meet Courtney and her family. Unfortunately Grant couldn't make it. Needless to say, Bryan was devastated, but later perked up when he realized that he could pretend that he was a polygamist.
First stop at the Children's Museum was Mr.Roger's Neighborhood. Lilly found the castle and dress up clothes and camped there while the rest of us checked out the other features of the exhibit. She loved the cape...I may have to make her one.
Bryan spent much of his time cussing for Grant...and rocking strollers and watching purses.

Not a great picture, but one of the only ones with Lilly and Aiden together. Despite that fact that we have no photographic proof they became great friends and spent any time apart asking about the other.

Courtney and Maddie get in on the action in the water play room.

Lilly playing in the water. Courtney suggested I bring some extra clothes for Lilly because even with a rain coat both kids would still be soaked. But, the raincoats were cute anyway.

Being an old pro at the Pittsburgh Children's Museum Aiden knew just what he wanted. He came in, found the toy shark and held onto it until we left.

Bryan again, wishing Grant had come. I think by this point Bryan and Jack were starting to get a little fussy.

After the museum we went back to John and Peg's for pizza and then laid out plans for the zoo the next day. Here are Lilly, Bryan and Uncle John watching the only animals at the zoo to actually move that day, the Springboks.

Jack wasn't interested in the actual giraffe, but he sure was excited about the one that he brought from home.

At the aquarium the exhibit that drew the largest crowd was the one being cleaned. Lilly saw the divers, pointed and shrieked at Bryan, "Those guys took Nemo!" He convinced her that they were not, in fact, the same people from 'Finding Nemo' and she got a little closer to investigate. She put her hand on the glass and the diver did the same.

Please notice that Lilly and Aiden both are climbing on the rocks right by the sign that says, 'Do Not Climb on Rocks', under the watchfull eyes of both their fathers.

We had a great time and can't wait to go back. Maybe next time when all the kids are a little older and Jack is more cooperative we can take Uncle John and Aunt Peg up on their offer to watch all four kids...for a short time.

Easter

2011-05-03T15:50:00.003-04:00

After such a big day on Saturday we didn't do a lot for Easter. In fact, we forgot to explain to Lilly about the Easter bunny or color eggs until Sunday morning. But, the Easter bunny came anyway and Lilly seemed to catch on pretty quick.
Lilly and Jack's Easter baskets. Can you guess who got the rice cereal?
Lilly hunted Easter eggs on Sunday morning and when she found this one she gasped, "A magic egg!" It was not magic. But, it did have a dollar in it. Lilly found all of the eggs, but split the coins that she found with Jack. She didn't seem to mind whose piggy bank the money went into, as long as she got to put it in there.

Jack and his bunny. It was not a candy bunny, but he tried to eat it anyway.

Hunting eggs in (due to the rain) my parents' house. Lilly is very stylish and used her polo bag to collect eggs instead of the traditional basket.

AppleHammer Cabin Ribbon Cutting

2011-05-03T11:13:00.017-04:00

On April 23 something very special happened in Parke County Indiana. Many people, family and friends, gathered to celebrate the completion of the brand new cabin and join in the fun of a ribbon cutting ceremony. My family has been camping, hunting, riding four wheelers, and partying at this property for over 25 years. The old 'cabin', if you want to call it that, has been in disrepair for most of these 25 years and it was time to replace it. I can't even begin to describe the old cabin to you, but if you picture your garden shed with a loft and nowhere near as plush you have a vague idea of where we have slept.
A couple years ago AppleHammer Industries (ie my dad and my uncle Chris) started talking about building a new, nicer cabin. The new cabin would have porches, actual windows, and most importantly, running water, only one level and a lot more space. The old cabin had electricity and a water spigot outside, but the new one is laid out to potentially have a toilet (gasp) and a much need shower.
The AppleHammer Ribbon Cutting Ceremony was a big event. There were speeches, a poem, a toast, gifts, and of course, the actual cutting of ribbon.
As the AppleHammer Event Coordinator I opened the event with the reading of a poem that was a tribute to the old cabin.

Wes was chosen to give the PBR Toast. Pabst Blue Ribbon was my grandpa's favorite beer and the cabin was one of his favorite places. It seemed only right that Mutt be included in the opening of the new cabin.

Dad and Chris were prepared to hack through the red ribbon with their pocket knives. But, why do that when you could just use giant ribbon cutting scissors.

Even Grandma came to see the new cabin. The wood carving is a morel mushroom done by Mark DeWeese with a chainsaw. Chris and Dad's hats are a tribute to the Amish man that built the cabin for them. Dad's suspenders, unfortunately, are not in any way related to the Amish hats, but just something he wears. Jack and Lilly are the fourth generation to enjoy the Parke County Property. This was Jack's second time there, the first being the previous weekend to get ready for the ceremony.

This is what its all about. After the festivities were over everyone melted into the woods to hunt for the elusive mushroom. As you might guess by everyone's posture, we're on a patch right now. Jack didn't do much mushroom hunting while in the woods, but he did seize the opportunity to take a nap. Lilly, on the other hand, seems to be pointing Papaw in the direction of a potential find.

Getting a little tired of hiking, Lilly takes a rest on a log. After a very long day both of my children were carried, crying, out of the woods.

All of the guys, minus Bryan, spent the night at the cabin. Bryan had to come home so he could be an Easter Bunny in the morning. But, we can't wait to go back and take the whole family to spend the night at the cabin. Lilly already has her cot all picked out. Sorry Chris, I think its yours.

Three for Three

2011-04-10T20:46:00.004-04:00

To round out the trifecta of birthday celebrations for Lilly we had a small family dinner on Saturday night. I cooked her favorite, beef stroganoff and broccoli. Then we sang, had cake and ice cream and then moved right along to opening presents. Lilly loves decorations, so while she was napping we surprised her by decorating her chair. Then, after rolling his eyes when I asked him to help with the chair Bryan got swept up in the excitement and decorated the rest of the dinning room with streamers and balloons. Lilly's princess castle cake. I worked so hard to make this cake for her, it took two days to make, from scratch, the strawberry cake, the butter cream filling, the strawberry meringue butter cream and the rice crispy treats to make the spires. Lilly's reaction when she saw it, "Um....why did you put my princesses on there?"

Lilly's cards and gifts.

Singing 'Happy Birthday'.

Digging in to the presents.

Taking a break. Aunt Tiki was kind enough to take pictures during the party so I could actually participate. She asked Lilly to smile so she could get a picture of her pretty birthday outfit. This is what she got. Please note: Lilly picked out her own outfit and then added pearls, a bracelet and a ring to it...and sparkly shoes, not pictured.

....and another mushroom stick carved by Papaw.

Bryan and I got Lilly a small play kitchen for her birthday and spread the word so she would receive a few accessories to go with it. She as a happy girl. She loves her kitchen. We have been cooking almost nonstop since Bryan carried it in the house. Well, we did take a little break to watch her new movie, 'Tangled'.

Thank you everyone. Lilly had a great birthday!

Lilly Turns Three

2011-04-07T22:04:00.003-04:00

Last night I tucked a two year old into bed and then this morning a three year old came into my room and woke me up. The fact that she was able to get out of her room all by herself is another matter all together. Lilly got up kind of early, which was annoying, but it actually worked out great because Jack continued to sleep. So, Bryan and I had about an hour to spend with just Lilly this morning. We started by making cinnamon rolls and opening two of her birthday presents, crazy hair and all. Modeling her new umbrella and boots. We were hoping for rain today, but no luck. Maybe tomorrow.

Lilly was very excited when she got up from her nap (in which she didn't sleep at all) to find that Aunt Cammie, Uncle Ed, Matthew and Morgan had sent her a balloon bouquet.

Doing a little birthday painting.

Today just happened to be gymnastics day too!

Then, we went to Red Robin for dinner. Lilly was happy about the sundae, but buried her head in Papaw's arm when the servers started singing.

Opening another present.

....and modeling that present after her bath.

Happy Birthday Lilly! Mommy and Daddy love you! Hope you had a great day, there's still more to come.

It Began with a Butterfly Birthday

2011-04-05T22:18:00.017-04:00

In my family we don't really do the whole Birthday thing. We do more of a birth weekend. You get your actual birthday and the weekend that is closest to it. Sometimes, depending on scheduling conflicts, you can drag your birthday celebration out to two weekends. And that, is exactly what Lilly is doing for her third birthday. This year we decided to split the party up a little. We started this past weekend by having a couple of Lilly's friends over on Saturday, and their parents too...we aren't that crazy yet. I made cupcakes, Bryan grilled hot dogs and the kids played. We did a spring theme with butterfly and flower cupcakes. Jack and I made it into a picture. Thanks Russ!

Here are the party goers. Russ, my photographer, tried to take a nice picture of all four kids smiling and standing still...This is what we got. The phrase "herding cats" came to mind during the photo shoot. From left: Lilly, Morgan, Avery and Georgie Blowing out her candle.

Avery opted for a cupcake with a flower sucker and peanut butter bug on top.

While Morgan chose a butterfly.

I didn't get a picture of Georgie with his cupcake, but I'm certain that he got one. A family photo. Very rare. Again, thanks Russ for using my camera and taking some pictures. Tania took lots of pictures too, but realized too late that her memory card was at home in the computer. Lilly opening her gift. For this party Bryan and I wanted to give Lilly something that she could play with outside and that all of her friends could enjoy with her. So, we got her a croquette set for kids. We thought this was a great idea, but after Lilly opened it we realized that all we had done was armed four sugared up three year olds with mallets.

We had a lot of fun on Saturday. The playset got a lot of use and Avery was kind enough to bring her bounce house. We also painted flower pots and planted bulbs in them. (By 'planted bulbs' I mean that we intended to plant bulbs, but the pots took longer to dry that I anticipated so I sent everyone home with their bulb in a bag. Hopefully, they are in their pots by now). We moved the party inside after dinner and watched the Butler game while the kids played. It was a great way to kickoff Lilly's birthday celebrations and I'm pretty sure she had a good time. She slept until almost 9:30am the next day.

Pink Eyed Monster

2011-03-24T12:35:00.003-04:00

Poor Lilly, she just got over a cold...but not before passing it to Bryan and I, and now she has pink eye. In both eyes. No biggie though, I called the doctor and he sent in a prescription for eye drops without me even having to bring her to his office. Needless to say she hates getting the eye drops in, but she is very brave and lets us do it anyway. Of course she needs a drink of milk and a cuddle afterward to make her feel better.
After administering the eye drops, drink and cuddle Bryan put the eye drops away (I know, I was as shocked as you are) and this is what he found when he came back into the living room. Lilly was putting eye drops into her baby's eyes.
Then she gave her a drink of her milk and a cuddle.

Then, I asked her to smile and show me her eyes and this is the face I got. As you can see pink eye doesn't bother her a bit.

First Taste of Spring

2011-03-18T22:04:00.003-04:00

While sitting on the couch earlier this week I looked out the window at the wind and rain and wondered how cold it actually was. So, I looked up the temperature for that day, but was immediately distracted by the weather forecast for Thursday. It was promising to be 69 and sunny. I wasted no time in planning a park day, the first of the year. After a little discussion my friend Tania and I decided that a picnic at the park with cupcakes at the new pastry shop to follow was just the thing.
Well, as usual, the weather man was wrong. It was not sunny, it was cloudy and windy. And, it was not 69 degrees, it was closer to 50. But, we stuck to the plan, added a couple of sweatshirts and headed to the park.
Lilly and Avery insisted on wearing their sunglasses even though the sun would not make an appearance for another hour or so. They also insisted on holding hands all the way to the playground and then on the walk to the bakery.
Lilly and Avery decided very early in the day that they would both be having a pink cupcake. They didn't care at all what the flavor was, just as long as the frosting was pink. When we walked into the pastry shop they marched right up to the counter, still holding hands of course, and Lilly said to the lady, "I want a pink cupcake, and she does too".
Preparing to enjoy the cupcake. Enjoying the cupcake.

On a side note: The cupcakes were a little different than what the girls expected ad neither Lilly nor Avery finished the icing or took a bite of the actual cupcake. What was meant to be a fun treat after a great day of playing was actually more like a punishment. The girls were excited about ordering pink cupcakes, but that's pretty much where the fun and excitement ended. They each licked a little of the icing off and then declared that they were all done and wanted to get down. But, not before Lilly sneezed all over her cupcake and the table and not before Avery stuck her icing covered tongue in Tania's water and coughed in her face.

The Second Time Around

2011-03-15T22:03:00.007-04:00

Being born second means that everything you do has been done before and you need to pull out all the stops to impress your parents, because they've seen it all before. As a second child I have spent my most of my life blaming my parents for this and for failing to remember many of my precious moments like they had most of Wes's. His first steps, first words and many other firsts are all accurately recorded, either on film and paper or simply tucked neatly into my mother's memory. There are pictures of Wes in all stages of childhood. To be fair there are pictures of me doing the same things, but Wes is in most of them too. I have been somewhat bitter about this, swearing that I wouldn't do the same thing when I had kids.
So, when Lilly was born I took pictures, waited patiently for milestones so I could record them and then wrote about most of them in this very blog. I was determined to do the same with my second baby. Then, that second baby was actually born and we became extremely busy. Too busy to take pictures, too busy to make notes, and too busy to record everything. But, I wasn't too busy to notice. And, I'll throw this out there...I wasn't too busy to acknowledge that my mom was right, it is really hard to be involved with my kids and take pictures at the same time.
Jack is flying through milestones. He smiled for the first time right on cue and then recently he added laughing to his resume. We did get some really cute video of that, but we didn't need to because he'll laugh almost on command. (Its a deep raspy little laugh, but its happy and cute). Then, just yesterday he rolled over. And yes, I missed it. I put him on his back on his blanket with a mirrored toy. Then, I went to help Lilly in the potty. When I got back Jack was on his tummy, up on his elbows and grinning from ear to ear. He obviously knew he had done something special and was very proud of himself.

OUTSIDE!

2011-02-27T22:17:00.003-05:00

After a series of snow, bitter cold, more snow, the plague and then more cold, today was the first chance, in several weeks, to get outside for more than just the time it takes to walk from the car to the doctor's office. There was already a plan in place to have a family dinner at my parents' house to celebrate Kristy's birthday. It was last week, but in my family we like to celebrate everyone's birthday at least three times. You get your actual birthday, the Friday or Saturday closest to your birthday and then a family get together on Sunday with a homemade (or a pre ordered carry out) dinner and cake. So, we took advantage of the plan that was already in place by skipping Lilly's nap (dangerous, I know) and heading to my parents' house a little early for a walk in the woods.
The weather was great, in the fifties, but there was still a little bit of snow. Perfect for throwing snowballs. Lilly and a couple of her favorite toys.

We knew Lilly and Hank would get wet and muddy, but what else are mud boots for. They both needed a little exercise and it was worth the mess because they each had a great time and came in hungry and tired.Lilly needed a little rest even though she was clearly starved for fresh air. We were out for a long time and took a leisurely walk, but when the rest of us started heading up to the house Lilly turned back towards the woods.

Jack didn't do a whole lot of walking, but he sure got on board with the resting part.

The Plague

2011-02-21T21:46:00.001-05:00

I don't even know how to describe the past week. Lilly rarely gets sick, she occasionally has the sniffles like any other kid, but never more than just a little cold. Well, this past week she made up for it. In five days we had two doctor visits, one chest X-ray, two prescriptions and several calls to the nurses desk. Lilly has taken innumerable doses of Tylenol and not an ounce of food...only water or diluted juice. We've gone through five sets of sheets, thrown out two pillows and learned some valuable lessons. One, if you cover your mouth when you cough and coughing makes you throw up, you will throw up on your own face. This is very traumatic to a two year old in the middle of the night. Two, if said two year old wants to watch a movie in your bed and still has her cough you shouldn't put her on your side of the bed. This is how we lost a set of sheets and one of the pillows. Three, if you are potty training that two year old while she has a virus you should be prepared to do quite a bit more laundry than usual.

We did our best to keep Lilly away from Jack (who has miraculously remained healthy).

Poor girl, all she wanted to do was watch movies, cuddle, or sleep. She even put herself to bed a few times.

Here's another shot of Jack avoiding Lilly. The quilt he is on was made for him by my grandma. Over the years each of her kids, grand kids and now great grandchildren have been lucky enough to have a quilt hand made for them by Grandma. A panel with his name, her name and his birth date is stitched onto the back. I have been using this blanket as Jack's safety zone, free from his sister and her germs. Jack actually seems to have enjoyed Lilly being sick. He's not a mean spiteful baby or anything, but I think he likes the extra one on one attention he's gotten since she's been sleeping over five hours a day.

Finally feeling better. We've had a couple false alarms: Lilly gets up, seems better, does a little playing, thinks about eating and then POW sick again. But, today she was playful (and a little mischievous) and even hungry with very little coughing. I think she's really on the mend this time.

Valentine's Day Meltdown

2011-02-13T22:01:00.004-05:00

I never really cared for Valentine's Day. I'm not a bitter old hag or anything, I just hated that Hallmark says we should force ourselves to be romantic on this specific day. Don't get me wrong, I've always celebrated, but mostly because I want an excuse not to cook. I started to get on board a little more when I worked at a flower shop a few years ago. I loved how on the days leading up to Valentine's Day the shop was packed with more flowers than at any other time of year. It seemed liked flowers were crammed everywhere! Then, the shop closed and I started to lose interest in the holiday again...but I still didn't cook. But, now we have Lilly and she loves to celebrate. She loves to give gifts, decorate cards and make cupcakes. She is excited to celebrate every holiday and everyone's birthday, she looks forward to each birthday like it is her own. Now, Valentine's Day is just another special day to share with her.
Lilly and I made cupcakes on Saturday and her and Bryan decorated some cards and boxes for her friends and some local family. Today, after weeks of cold weather, snow and ice and days of below zero temperatures, it was 45 degrees and felt down right balmy. So, we bundled up and headed out to deliver some of those cupcakes and cards to people within walking distance. Our walk was much more chaotic than we planned...does anyone ever plan for chaos? We stopped to deliver a cupcake to our neighbor and I had to run back in to the house to grab Lilly's hat and gloves. *Please Note: Lilly had on mittens and a hood. She needed gloves and a hat.
Falling in the snow.
Putting gloves on Lilly is what I imagine it would be like to try and put a live octopus in your evening bag. When I said we delivered cupcakes to everyone within walking distance what I should have said was: We delivered cupcakes to Avery...and Miss Eileen, our neighbor, but Lilly only cared that we were walking to Avery's house. In fact, when we rounded the curve and saw Avery's house Lilly began to run. She then got distracted by a puddle, but we got her back on track.

Nathan was kind enough to take a family photo. It is rare that you get all five of us in a picture together. It is also very rare that Hank ever offers to take a picture. Curious.

More chaos. I wanted a nice picture to prove that I exist and that Jack was on the walk too. So I took Hank, handed Bryan the camera and smiled for a picture. Then, Hank went one way and Lilly went the other...so this is what I got.

Considering I was wearing Jack, it was hard to get a picture of him that wasn't an extreme close up. No, he's not cross eyed, but when the little red light on the camera indicates the flash, Jack can't help but stare at it.

Happy Valentine's Day to all of you outside of walking distance.

Three Months

2011-02-10T11:11:00.002-05:00

Jack is three months old today. He looks so happy, but little does he know sleep training starts tonight. Happy Birthday Jack!

Snopocalypse 2011

2011-02-09T14:15:00.005-05:00

Two weekends ago we were visiting Bryan's parents in Kentucky when we heard about the winter storm that was headed straight for Indy. We hurried home to try and beat the two inches of ice and foot of snow that was threatening to close the roads and knock the power out for days on end. So of course as soon as we walked in the door we shook off the five hour drive and Bryan carried firewood while I rushed to the grocery store to stock up on things that could be cooked on a wood burning stove or eaten cold. As I was walking out of Marsh the freezing rain started. And then it ended about five minutes later.
But, don't get discouraged, throughout the next couple of days we got ice, sleet and snow. About seven to nine inches in total. I was, and still am, a little disappointed. Don't get me wrong, with two little kids, I definitely didn't want to lose power, and the thought of ice accumulating on the big trees around our house was a nightmare I didn't even want to think about, but I like snow. I wanted lots and lots of snow. We got almost six inches, but I wanted the 12 we were promised.
Here is a picture of the house after the sleet and while the snow was still falling.
It was a thick heavy snow that was hard to shovel. So, Bryan and I took turns keeping the sidewalk and driveway clean so the ice underneath could melt. It is almost impossible to chip away all the ice off of the driveway at one time. I'm still working on that.

I promised a picture of Bryan's new car. Well, here it is. Nice, huh?

On Sunday Bryan and Lilly put some ice melt on our neighbor's driveway and then played in the snow before heading to a friend's house for the Super Bowl.

It was perfect snowman snow, but when Lilly saw her play set that she hasn't been on since October she forgot all about the snowman. Even Hank gets to go out off of his leash when the snow is deep. For some reason he stays right with us when we take him out in the snow.

Snow Capped Doodle

2011-02-05T19:07:00.004-05:00

Every once in a while I have to give a shout out to, what we think is, the world's greatest dog. Hank is getting to be an old man, he will be seven this year and for a big dog that's still just middle age, but we've noticed that he has started to slow down. He's not as mischievous as he was when he was a pup, he spends more of his day sleeping and he gets worn out after less playtime than before. While Hank may limp around like an old man he hasn't developed any of the grumpiness that often comes with old age.

Hank still eagerly greets Bryan at the door after work, he still charges his gate to bark at the neighbor dogs and he still gets excited when we take him to doggie daycare or on a walk. He also is still capable of fooling even the most seasoned solicitor. Knock on our door and you will be greeted by 100lbs of fur and teeth. Despite this 'viciousness' Hank is gentle with Lilly and likes to lick Jack on the head while he plays on the floor.

Hank is, and will always be, my best buddy. He gets up with me in the middle of the night while I feed Jack, he still lays under my feet in the evening after the kids are in bed while Bryan and I watch TV. And on those days when Jack won't take a nap and Lilly is whiny and Bryan works late I look over at Hank and know that he is thinking the same thing I am: Remember when it was just you and me?

Snow capped Doodle laying in the sunroom waiting to thaw before coming in the house. Hank loves the winter. The colder and snowier the better.

Hank is also the only 'person' in the house that helps me clean up after lunch and dinner. Anything Lilly drops on the floor is fair game...even if it is just some peas.

Playing tug of war. He gives her a good fight, but Hank usually lets Lilly win. Then they chase each other around the house with Lilly throwing the toy, Hank picking it up and Lilly taking it again.

"If you aren't going to make sure the baby doesn't fall off the couch, I guess I will"

The Death of a Beamer

2011-02-01T08:51:00.007-05:00

Early last week a tragic event occurred. Bryan called me at about noon to ask me if I could pick him up at a BMW repair shop, his car was making a funny noise. After lunch I bundled up the kids and started to load them into the car. That's when I got another call. "Don't hurry." He said, "I'm waiting for a tow truck, I'll probably be a while". So, I waited. Then, right in the middle of what should have been nap time I bundled everyone up again, loaded them into the car and headed to pick up Bryan.
On the way I answered several questions about the purpose of our trip: Where is Daddy? What happened to his car? Mommy and I will fix it? Can we take a look at it? What is a tow truck? Will Daddy drive it? Can I ride in it? Then we got there: Where is Daddy? Is Daddy coming here? In the tow truck? Can I see him? The tow truck pulls up: Where is Daddy? Is he driving? Is that Daddy's friend? What's that man saying? Where's Daddy's car? And on and on and on and on. Then she joined her brother and fell asleep on the way home.
Several days later we heard the bad news. Bryan's car had passed away. It was an emotional time for Bryan, but he did the right thing. He said his good byes, sold his car for parts and made a call to his dad. Lucky for us, Bryan's dad owns an auto dealers supply shop in Ashland Kentucky, JWT Products. This has led to several perks over the years, but free windshield washer fluid will never compare to what he was about to do for us. Wes was able to find, test drive and haggle over (making a VERY good deal) a used car. We moved our planned visit up a couple of weeks and headed to KY to pick up our car.
Lilly wasn't quite ready to give up. She thought we should at least try and fix Bryan's BMW before going to get the new one.
It was a quick trip that wore everyone out. Well, the trip wore Lilly and Jack out and they wore everyone else out.

Luckily Lilly was only tired for about 30 seconds. Then she was ready to play some more.

So, we took her to Gatti-land. Its a 'Chuck E Cheese' type pizza place, a lot nicer, but with the same idea: pizza, rides, games, tickets and prizes.

Even though we were there for Lilly, Bryan and his dad found a way to play the racing game.

Lilly had the biggest entourage of any kid there.

All in all we had a great weekend. Lilly got to see her grandparents, Jack got to meet Grandma Becky and Nana for the first time and Bryan drove home a new (used) Hyundai Sonata. I wanted to get a picture of Bryan, his dad and the car, but I figured a car's a car...and my kids are super cute so why not post pictures of them instead. Now the car is covered in ice, but that's another blog entirely.

Thanks for everything Wes! We appreciate your help.

Desperate Measures

2011-01-19T14:19:00.003-05:00

In a vain attempt to promote his nap while avoiding her own Lilly brought all of her bed time things into the living room yesterday and offered them to Jack while he tried to enjoy some play time on the floor. She she must have been as desperate as I was for Jack to take a nap because, while very good at sharing, Lilly rarely offers monkey, pillow and especailly blankie without expecting something in return.

Traylor Park Princess

2011-01-15T16:07:00.004-05:00

Lilly loves princesses and loves to play dress up. So, when she asked Santa for dress up dresses I wasn't surprised. She specifically asked Santa for a purple dress and a blue dress. He assured her that he would get to work on those dresses as soon as he returned to his shop. Imagine if you will how excited she was on Christmas morning to find that Santa had not only left dresses, but also an entire trunk of dress up items. There were dresses, skirts, sparkly tops, shoes, jewelery and a tiara. Lilly dove into the box and began pulling everything out. The magic of Christmas shone in her eyes as she pulled out the purple dress to show Bryan and I. We couldn't have been happier, she was so excited. Then, a moment later she crushed us when she turned to Bryan and asked, "Santa's still working on the blue one?" Santa fail.
But, Lilly has since forgotten all about the blue dress. (It helped that she already had a blue dress up dress that we now store in the dress up trunk.) She plays with the items in her dress up trunk all of the time, and there are often dresses scattered all over the living room and some times the house.
She also uses the dresses to pretend to do laundry. I know, I know...if she wants to do laundry I have plenty she could do. Here she is sorting her laundry. I know that she has learned this laundry thing from watching me, but I assure you: I don't wear silver sparkled shoes to wash cloths. Not to mention I typically have on pants while I do my housework.
In true traylor park fashion Lilly displays her wedding attire. Please note: The skirt is inside out, she's only wearing one purple heel and she is never without her trusty wife beater undershirt.

Here is Lilly in full princess attire. Purple velvet and satin gown? Check. Gawdy jewelry? Check. Magic wand? Check. Wife beater and purple heels? Double check. Hair done? Ummm....no.

Big Jack's Big Day

2011-01-11T21:59:00.004-05:00

Jack turned two months old yesterday and had his two month check up with the doctor today. At 12 lbs 6 ozs and 24 inches long he's kind of a hoss, but that doesn't matter because he's as sweet as can be. He's right on target, doing everything he should be doing at two months: smiling, cooing and even trying to roll a little bit. He also tracks my voice and some times follows his hand or watches a toy. But, his favorite thing to watch is Lilly. Weather it's out of fear or admiration we still aren't sure, but Jack lights up with Lilly interacts with him.
Everything that Jack loves most can be done on his boppy: eating, sleeping and and thinking about eating. He can even yell at Bryan from his boppy if he wants.

If someone took a picture of me in my bath towel and then posted it on the internet I wouldn't be happy either. But, he sure looks cute. I, however, would not.

Bryan and Jack. Please notice that Jack is NOT screaming at Bryan. This is very rare and had to be captured on film (film? digital image? whatever I took a picture)

The Princess and The Frog

2011-01-06T00:02:00.003-05:00

Lilly loves princesses and her new favorite game is to pretend to be a sleeping princess. She asks that we make a 'tent' or castle in her room with a blanket (which we do). Then she lays under it on a pillow and closes her eyes. Then, she yells from her room, "Daddy! I need you to come be a prince!" So, Bryan goes in, kisses her and she wakes up.
That's when its his turn to lay down and be the sleeping princess. This is actually a coveted role. Its rare that you can make a child's day by laying under her tent with a blanket and pillow in a dark room after a long day at work and 'pretending' to be asleep. Some other roles in this game are Hank as the Beast and me as the evil stepmother or witch. I, personally, think that we all have been type cast.
Here's Bryan as the princess. This was after dinner on Sunday night and I think he might actually be asleep. On another princess note: Every morning when Lilly gets up I go into her room and we have the same conversation:
Me: "Good morning, did you sleep good?"

Lilly: "Yes, I had sweet dreams."

Me: "You did? What did you dream about?"

Lilly: (big smile) "I dreamed about princesses."

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

2010-12-28T22:48:00.010-05:00

Where to begin? I've been sitting here for a few minutes trying to decide how to start this blog. This Christmas was probably one of the best we've ever had. Lilly finally understood that Santa was coming and what that meant for her, it was so much fun. It was also the first Christmas ever that Bryan's parents had both of their kids, spouses and grand kids together. But, this Christmas began with sadness and loss for the Traylor family.
Nine days before Christmas Bryan's Granddad, Jack Traylor, lost his hard fought battle with cancer at the age of 88. Bryan made the trip to Kentucky for the memorial services alone, spent four days with his entire extended family reminiscing and mourning, and then returned with his parents, his sister and her family in tow.
The whole fam made the trip here this year since Jack is still too little to travel. We all gathered at our house for a traditional family Christmas complete with dinner, napping, presents and snow.
Lilly opening a gift. She was a little slow at first, but after a little practice she was really tearing into them. Jack lucked out. With Aunt Cammie, Uncle Ed, two cousins, a Grandma and Granddad he rarely had to sleep in his bed. We let Cammie take a nap without making her get in her bed too.

Matthew and Lilly playing in the snow. The layer of ice made snowman building impossible, but with a little help from Matthew Lilly was able to make a snow angel. She didn't weigh enough to break through the ice layer by herself so Matthew had to push on her to break the surface.

Bryan's family headed back to KY on Thursday. The next day was Christmas Eve and we spent the day relaxing. This relaxing led to laziness and laziness led to what will, I hope, become a new Christmas Eve tradition for our family: carry out sushi for dinner.

On Christmas Eve Lilly and I also made some cookies for Santa. She was very excited to leave the cookies and some milk out for Santa and a few carrots for the reindeer. This excitement turned to confusion in the morning when only a few bites of each were left on the plate. The confusion switched back to excitement when she realized she could eat the bites of cookie that were left on the plate. At 9:00 in the morning.

This was the most fun I've had on Christmas morning since I was a kid myself. I think Bryan and I were even more excited that Lilly. After she woke up and asked, "Is Santa here?", she heard Bryan in the kitchen and whispered to me, "I think he's in the kitchen." Bryan had already explained in detail how Santa would come down the chimney, eat the cookies and then leave presents under the tree. He did not, however, explain to her how Santa would leave. After explaining that Santa didn't stick around for breakfast we steered her towards the cookies to point out that they had been eaten. Then we could hardly wait while she remembered on her own that if Santa had eaten the cookies he had probably left some things under the tree. We followed her eagerly into the living room and didn't even take any pictures as she saw everything that had been left. She looked through all of her new things and didn't know what to play with first. Then, while looking through the trunk of dress up dresses she looked up at Bryan and asked, "Is Santa still working on the blue dress?" Oops. When Lilly sat on Santa's lap she told him that she'd like to have a purple dress and a blue dress to play in. The dress up trunk came with a purple dress and several others, along with accessories, tiaras, heels and jewelry. But, the lack of a blue dress did not escape Lilly's notice. Santa fail.

Lilly spending a little time with Jack on one of his Christmas gifts, while wearing one of hers. We spent quite a bit of time on Christmas morning taking Lilly in and out of dress up dresses, but not a blue one.

After spending some time on Christmas day playing with all of Lilly's new things we made our way to my mom and dad's house, along with Wes and Kristy to have dinner.

A rarity: A picture with both me, my mom and Kristy in it. We are usually the ones taking the pictures, but in a rare event Wes got behind the camera and snapped a few. Too bad he didn't tell Kristy we were posing.

The day after Christmas was a great day for sleeping in. But, after the sleeping in was over we met Wes and Kristy at my parents' house for some sledding.

After all the Christmas excitement poor Jack was just worn out.

Its Jammie Time

2010-12-19T22:18:00.004-05:00

I have no new blog material and I have also been pretty lax in my picture taking. So, I thought I'd share a cute picture of everyone in their jammies. Well...maybe not everyone. I prefer not to be photographed in my jammies...and Bryan doesn't wear any so you don't want to see that either.
I took this picture while Bryan was out of town and sent it to him with the caption, "Good Morning, Daddy". It made his day, so I did it the next day too. The first day Lilly was excited to hold Jack and I got a smile out of her and was able to get him to look at the camera. The next day, not so much. Lilly was annoyed and about thirty seconds after I propped Jack against her she said, "Um, I'm done holding him. Can you please take him now?"

No jammies here, but I just had to post this picture of Jack's little bottom in the air while he was sleeping.

What a Difference a Month Makes

2010-12-10T15:17:00.013-05:00

Jack is one month old today. He's already changed so much, I can't believe it. When Lilly was an infant every day was like an eternity, but Jack's first month seems to have slipped right by me.

He is a good baby and a sweet little boy. He is still sleeping good at night and naps good during the day. All he seems to want is to be rocked to sleep, a clean diaper and to something to eat. And boy does he eat! Jack weighs a whopping 10 lbs 9 ozs. For all of you math majors that is an almost three pound weight gain in just four short weeks.

Newborn picture from the hospital. 7 lbs 13 ozs

About two weeks old.

Three weeks.

One month. 10 lbs 9 ozs

Wonderful Winter Weekend

2010-12-05T10:49:00.013-05:00

Again, I am putting my preplanned blog on hold to bring you news of Lilly's big weekend. Play date on Friday night. Parade, Santa visit and Christmas tree shopping and decorating on Saturday. Sunday was Uncle Wes's birthday so there was a cake to make and a party to go to.
Lilly had a great time at Christmas in the Village. She loves a parade and nothing says Christmas Parade like a fresh dusting of snow that is still falling.
Lilly had a blast and enjoyed the parade more than anyone. She was so obviously happy that a shop owner took her picture, Santa waved at her and the United Way singled her out with a special stuffed animal.
Jack and I sat the parade out, but Bryan and Lilly came home after and picked us up so that we could all go back together to see Santa. Lilly wasn't shy at all, although she was a little confused about what to do. She walked up to Santa, stood about three feet away and shouted 'doll house' at him as if she were placing an order at a drive thru. We explained the procedure a little more clearly. She then sat on Santa's lap and had a more respectful conversation. After saying 'good bye' to Santa we made a quick stop for dog food and then headed to the Christmas tree farm.
On Friday I was thrilled to slip into my pre pregnancy jeans and find that they fit. So, I packed up all my maternity clothes and got the boxes ready for storage. In an ironic twist, only a day after doing this I was digging through the boxes for my maternity coat because just for old times sakes Jack and I both wanted to wear it at the Christmas tree farm. It was snowing and cold so I put him in the carrier and put the coat on over both of us. Oddly enough it fit perfect like that. Genius!
After naps, we all took one when we got home, Bryan brought the tree in. He and Lilly trimmed it a little to even it up...unfortunately, they got a little carried away and the tree had to be turned to hide the bare spot they made.
After putting on the lights Lilly helped with the ornaments. Mostly, she took off the ones that Bryan had put on and asked him a million questions about them. Now, she takes off the ones she can reach and plays with them. In two days most of our ornaments that were hung on the bottom have made their way to the higher part of the tree.Sunday was my brother's birthday and birthday cake baking is traditionally my responsibility. Over the last year Lilly has appointed herself as assistant. Nothing makes her happier than dragging a kitchen chair over to the counter and helping make something. She pours in the ingredients, or 'green ants' as she calls them, and then does the stirring. She refers to her apron as her 'cake making clothes'.
Lilly was very proud of her cake. After I frosted it she decorated it with chocolate sprinkles...most of which were piled in the one spot just off the center of the cake. She helped Kristy put the candles on and then clapped after the singing when Wes blew them out. Birthdays around here have changed a little. We've always celebrated each person's birthday with a family dinner, but now it seems that everyone's birthday is less about his or her actual birthday and more about Lilly celebrating that birthday. She even helped Wes open his gifts. He was pretty happy with his gifts, but she was disappointed that he got a couple sweaters, a dress shirt and a gift card instead of play doh, barbies or blocks. Since there were no new birthday toys to play with Lilly had to make due with her favorite playthings: Daddy, Papaw and Uncle Wes. She ruled that they were all horses and spent the hour after dinner leading them, in turn, from room to room with the ribbon from one of the gifts and having them sit in their 'stables' to wait for further instruction. I have to point out that all of this went on while the Colts were in overtime with the Cowboys, but Lilly's horses gladly followed her around and one, the show pony, even wore birthday ribbon on his head.

Pardon the Interuption

2010-12-01T17:08:00.004-05:00

I have a great blog started. I need to finish downloading the pictures and edit the content, but its going to be a good one. I have been working on it for quite some time. But, I've put that on hold for a few days because it can wait and today something wonderful happened. It snowed!

Lilly was very excited and has been waiting for this day since the flowers in the back yard started to die. This fall she asked Bryan where all the flowers had gone. He explained that we have flowers in the summer, the leaves fall in autumn and then there will be snow. She sat on a stump and made a sad face, "I'm just gonna wait here for the snow." She said.

Jack didn't play in the snow, but he was prepared for the cold just the same.

Daddy/Daughter Day of Disaster

2010-11-21T20:48:00.009-05:00

Bryan is in a bowling league that bowls every Friday night in the fall and winter months. This Friday he accidentally left his debit card at the bowling alley and needed to go and get it on Saturday morning. What started as a quick and annoying errand quickly escalated into a great idea for a Daddy/Daughter Day. We thought it would be fun for Lilly to go with Bryan and then bowl a game. Even better, he invited good friends Nathan and Avery to join them.
Then the whole plan seemed to crumble.
Disaster One: At the last minute Lilly changed her mind and didn't want to go. She cried and needed quite a bit of persuasion to get into the car, this is when Bryan mentioned the bowling shoes. She was back on board.
Disaster Two: On the way to the bowling alley Bryan heard from Nathan, who was already there, the bowling alley was closed due to a power outage.
Disaster Three: It was decided, after a consultation with the moms, that the outing would be moved to Chuck E Cheese. Mom approval was required due to the disgusting nature of Chuck E Cheese and the number of germs that two little girls can pick up there and bring back to their baby brothers.
The disasters were put on hold for a couple of hours while everyone had a great time at Chuck E Cheese. The girls played, the dads won brownie points and the moms and baby brothers relaxed at home.
On the carousel.
Riding with Stewart Little.

Trying to call mom for help.

Disaster Four: Avery falls flat on her nose. Bryan says her little nose instantly began to blacken up and latest reports from her parents are that the nose is still bruised.

Disaster Five:Leaving. When told that it was time to go Lilly collapsed on the floor in tears and Avery stopped where she stood and sobbed. Then Bryan got stuck in traffic with a screaming toddler. She was asleep when he pulled in the driveway.

Disaster Six: Lilly is now sick. I don't think she caught something at Chuck E Cheese, Bryan insists that she sneezed while there. Ironic isn't it? I don't want Lilly at Chuck E Cheese because people take sick kids there...people like Bryan and I.

No disaster here, but I thought some of you might like to see Jack with his eyes open. This is very rare as he sleeps soundly and in his bed most of the time. The only problem is that this picture was taken at about 11pm.

Lillyrella

2010-11-18T15:44:00.004-05:00

Last week while Bryan and I were in the hospital with Jack, Lilly spent that time at her country home north of town where she maintains a staff of two. While there she didn't miss us at all. She was too busy dressing up like Cinderella, watching 'Cinderella', playing outside and having a picnic at the park with one of her favorite playmates-Papaw.
Lilly is obsessed with Cinderella. As a special treat for the new big sister my mom got her this dress and gave it to her during her stay with them. It came with a crown and magic wand. She rarely wants to wear anything else.
Here she is casting a spell. She will curl her nose, point the wand at you and say "Bipity Bopety Boo". That's when you know that you have been turned into a frog, horse or most likely a kitty cat. Please notice the shoes. She calls them her 'fancy dancin' shoes'.

Here is Lilly having her picnic lunch at the park. We were all astonished to learn that a two and a half year old can sit this close to slides, swings and a jungle gym and still eat an entire peanut butter and jelly sandwich. But, eventually she found her way to the slides.

Thanks Grandma and Papaw! It was a load off my mind while in the hospital to know that Lilly was not only being taken care of, but having a great time too.

Jack Pot!!

2010-11-11T21:32:00.004-05:00

Tuesday November 9 started like any other day. Everyone in our little family of three got up, ate breakfast and I started a load of laundry while Bryan headed off to work. Then Lilly and I got cleaned up and ventured out to run a few errands before heading out to take a walk and enjoy some fresh air at my parents' house (Please see previous blog).
Tuesday November 9, however, did not end like any other day. By midnight Lilly was asleep, my mom was on our couch and Bryan and I were at the hospital. At 10:02am on Wednesday, November 10 we welcomed David Jack Traylor and became a family of four. At 7lbs 13.5ozs and almost 22 inches long he was bigger than his big sister, but still seemed tiny to us.
Jack doing his favorite thing: sleeping. He eats good, sleeps well and cries only when he needs something. He may look a lot like his big sis, but their personalities seem night and day already.

Lilly so proud of her baby brother. She was so excited to hold him and then became obsessed with his feet. You can't tell, but she is wearing her 'Big Sister' t-shirt.

My mom told her to be careful of his soft spot and she later told Bryan, "Be careful, he has a bad spot." Notice her little hand is on his foot, did I mention she was obsessed with his feet? Jack with his new kitty. Grandma and Papaw stopped on the way to the hospital so Lilly could bring a gift to her new baby brother. Grandma helped her pick out a blue hippo and they were ready to pay when Papaw pointed out the basket of kitties, Lilly's favorite. So now, Jack has a cute black kitty with a pink nose and ears. I think he likes it though.

Jack having some 'tree frog' time with Daddy after lunch. They can't wait to watch the Colt's game together on Sunday!

Lazy Little Luther

2010-11-09T19:22:00.014-05:00

Lazy little Luther seems happy and comfortable with the status quo and shows no signs of voluntarily abandoning his current situation and greeting the world. Since it was a nice day Lilly and I decided that we would spend an afternoon at my parents' house walking in the woods to try and encourage him to leave on his own and maintain a little dignity before being forcibly evicted on Saturday morning.
As I have chosen to refrain from appearing in pictures and/or videos until further notice I have included in this blog a couple videos of Lilly enjoying the beautiful weather and great outdoors.
Lilly on the mountain. *Please note* No actual injury of any kind was sustained during the filming of this clip.

Lilly the biker.

Oktober Fest

2010-10-31T21:26:00.004-04:00

I love fall and contrary to what he might say, Bryan sure seems to enjoy this season too. It just seems like everything people do in the fall is more fun. Even the chores are better...splitting wood when its 62 degrees is much more fun than mowing the grass when its 108 or shoveling snow when its negative two. The holidays are better too...Halloween and Thanksgiving are more fun than Easter and New Year's Eve. Here is the evidence to support my claim.
Remember my blog a few a few months ago when I revealed Lilly's German dress and promised you that you'd see it again? Well, here it is. The dress is too cute and Lilly liked wearing it so much that we had to build a Halloween costume around it. Luckily for us, it wasn't really that hard. After a little bit of a shock when I googled 'milkmaid' without being specific that I was looking for a child's costume, it was pretty easy to figure out what we needed to add to the dress. All we needed to make Lilly look like an authentic German milkmaid was a button hat and a milk bucket. We found a silver bucket, wrote 'MILK' on it and I channeled my inner Martha Stewart (and called my grandma for help) to make Lilly the button hat. She was the cutest little milkmaid ever.
So cute in fact, that she took Honorable Mention at the Boone Village Halloween Party costume contest. We think Lilly should have beat the (store bought) pirate and fireman, but Woody's mom deserved that trophy. His entire costume was home made.
Two days later Lilly and Grandma left some apples out for the deer that pass through this time of year. They looked for them today and found they had been eaten! Very exciting. Lilly thought she should play on the wood pile while it was still there. (see below)

Splitting wood (when you have a splitter) is a really fun fall chore. Bryan complained when we were done that his back hurt, but I didn't find it hard at all. I stood, and later sat, in the same place for three hours and operated the splitter while Bryan lugged the logs over, maneuvered them into position and then stacked the split wood.

Lilly checked on her apples and then played in the sandbox. She spent the morning mentally preparing for trick or treating that same night.

Lilly had a great time trick or treating. We left early and made a few visits that required a car ride then came home to set out around the neighborhood. Tiki and Papaw joined Lilly, Bryan and I for trick or treating while Grandma made dinner and Wes handed out candy at our house. This worked out great, everyone got to see Lilly in her costume (without us having to drive all around and make ten stops) and we came home from trick or treating to find meatloaf, mashed potatoes and gravy ready to eat.

Lilly's favorite part of Halloween was ringing doorbells. She loved running onto the porch and pushing the button. We were very proud that she said "trick or treat" and "thank you" loud and clear at each house we visited. There was one house where things didn't go as planned. We couldn't help but laugh when Lilly approached the house, rang the bell and smiled at the woman who opened the door. Then, instead of saying "trick or treat" Lilly politely asked the woman if she could please come in and see the kitty that she had spotted just inside.

The Great Pumpkin

2010-10-24T09:37:00.002-04:00

It just wouldn't be October, Halloween, or childhood, for that matter, without carving a pumpkin. Lilly like any other kid was eager, and a little confused, to carve her very first pumpkin.
Lilly drawing a face on the pumpkin. This is where the confusion set in. She kept asking for other colors. I think she thought she was just coloring on the pumpkin, not drawing something that was to be cut out.
Waiting with excitement while Daddy removes the 'lid'.

First experience with pumpkin goop. She called the seeds 'beans'.

Really getting into it now.

Me outlining the face while Lilly tries on her sunglasses.

Bryan cutting out the face while Lilly eats a cookie.

Lilly and her pumpkin. While I was taking this picture she coached the pumpkin by saying, "Say cheese, punkin!"

Lilly the Model

2010-10-19T20:16:00.003-04:00

Bryan and I had some pictures of Lilly (and a few of us) taken on Saturday morning at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. The grounds are beautiful and it was the perfect place to capture Lilly on film. The photographer, who happens to be my cousin Kelly, took over 300 hundred pictures, edited them, added some creative touches and sent me a disk with 615 images. These are just a few of Bryan and I's favorites.

My favorite.

As I said, my cousin Kelly Applegate is the photographer that took these great pictures for us. He had lots of ideas and was able to get Lilly excited about getting her picture taken. I think she thought we were there to play, not do a photo shoot. Kelly encouraged this and turned it into a fun morning with the result being pictures that are not only full of life, but really capture Lilly's personality.

Check out his website at kellyapplegatephotography.com

The Last Hoorah

2010-10-17T20:10:00.005-04:00

As most of you know, or have figured out, we are expecting baby #2 in mid November. Now that we are seasoned veterans in baby care we know what to expect out of life for the next few months. So, to celebrate the fact that we probably won't be able to go out, spend any time alone together, or possibly even eat at the same time until mid summer Bryan and I enlisted our trusted babysitters (Grandma and Papaw) for Saturday night. We made a reservation at our favorite place, The Melting Pot, and planned on living it up. We didn't. We dropped Lilly off, swung by Costco for some bulk laundry soap, took Bryan's new suit to be fitted and then stopped at a Halloween store to kill some time. Dinner couldn't have been better, and we both left stuffed. We then proceeded to debate our options for the after party. Dave and Buster's? No, I want to sit down. A bar? Too smokey. Comedy Club? Show starts to late. A movie? Seats are too uncomfortable. Home to watch 'Saturday Night Live'? Oh yeah! Too bad I fell asleep on the couch before it started. But, we both really enjoyed our night out and sleeping in on Sunday morning was priceless!
When we went to pick Lilly up this morning, around noon, we thought it would be fun to head straight for the Pumpkin Festival at The Country Market. If you haven't been, you should go. It's cheap to get in and everything execpt food and pony rides is included. Lilly had a blast, as always, and we did everything that was offered.
Playing in the 'corn box'.
On the giant slide after a costume change. It was much hotter than I anticipated. Lilly first rode down the giant slide with Bryan, then decided to brave it on her own. For some reason she didn't go quite as fast...

Riding on the cow spotted train. Bryan gave Lilly specific instructions: Hold on and don't stand up. She was holding on so tight that she wouldn't even wave at us as she went by.

Of course: A pony ride.

Picking out a pumpkin. This took forever. She would pick one up, tell Bryan that it wasn't perfect and then toss it to the ground only to repeat the process again with another pumpkin.

Corn Maze. Wish I would have sat this one out. Bryan thought it would be fun to just let Lilly lead the way without giving her any suggestions. The corn maze takes substantially longer this way.

Picking out a carving pumpkin. This time Daddy found the perfect pumpkin, much quicker than Lilly, and we made our way to the exit. Check back soon for the pumpkin carving blog.

Indiana Girl

2010-10-11T21:05:00.007-04:00

After a busy weekend, in which a lot of fun things happened that I failed to get pictures of (Bryan's parents came in for a visit. We ate mexican food, went to the Z-ville chili cook off and art fair, had a playdate at the park with friends, played on Lilly's playset with one of Lilly's friends, cooked steaks on the grill, watched Lilly's new 'Beauty and The Beast' movie, spent more time on the playset, practiced on Lilly's new guitar (thanks Grandma) ate fried chicken at Holly Hock and rented a strange movie), we decided to take advantage of an irrelevant bank holiday and Bryan's day off.
We packed some cookies, juice and a couple bottles of water and headed a little north on Hwy 421 to survey the harvest of my family's farm. Lilly was a little confused, I think she thought we were going to a certain friend's house, he and his wife have horses, goats, two calves and a couple dogs and cats. Lilly told Bryan that she was going to ask the lady (aka Danielle) if she could ride the goats. So, to avoid any more confusion I will explain...several years ago my parents bought some farm ground as an investment. A man they know farms it and we occasionally go out and visit. We walk around, pick up rocks and some times burn some brush. Its a typical Indiana farm, all that's there is corn. There is no house, no barn, no animals and very little shade. It is simply several acres of ground. For some reason we thought Lilly might enjoy spending a few hours there exploring. We were right.
We walked around the entire perimeter while Lilly picked up corn that escaped the combine, asked questions, looked for a walking stick and picked up more corn.
This is just some of the overlooked corn that Lilly found. After she filled her arms Lilly started filling Bryan's pockets. O.k, so there was one animal on the farm, Hank. He had a great day too. He ran free, swam in the creek and chased any corn cobs that were thrown.

Lilly's little legs got tired pretty quick so her and her corn got a ride on Daddy's shoulders.

On the walk back to the car more than Lilly's little legs were tired.

A Man, A Plan, A Playset

2010-10-02T19:47:00.008-04:00

Bryan found a playset on Craig's List for a price that seemed unreal. So unreal in fact, that it was. When he emailed the lady and told her that we would take the two year old playset for the 50 bucks that she was asking for it, she explained that she had over 25 responses and thought she should ask a little more. So, Bryan made a final offer and said he could be there Wednesday to get it. She accepted and a project was born.
On Wednesday night Bryan enlisted my dad to accompany him to Greenwood to take the playset apart and mark all the pieces for easy reassembly. But, reassembly was less than easy. It took two men over three hours to take it apart....it took one man (and occasionally a toddler) three evenings and two trips to the hardware store to put back together. But, the end result was a happy little girl.
Day 1:Bryan surrounded by the puzzle pieces. Notice the smile...this is not featured in the later pictures. Found a good spot and getting to work. He's still smiling.

Lilly even helped a little. Not so smiley.

Day 2:

Bryan didn't even have the ladder attached at this point and Lilly was already trying to climb it. Please note that there is no smile at all...not even a little one. Attaching the walls of the clubhouse just before dark.

Day 3:

Getting ready to attach the arm for the swingset. Around this time the smile went from 'fading' to 'non-existent' when the arm shifted and the supporting leg cracked. This is also when I quit taking pictures and went inside.

Daddy the hero attached the slide before worrying about fixing the broken swingset attachment. Notice if you will that the smile has returned. Seems to have a direct correlation with the Lilly's excitement over the slide.

New supports for the swingset are in place and even turned out to be a good thing. Bryan was able to cut the new legs to a specific length to avoid any digging to level the playset.

Lilly was very anxious to try out the swings...before Bryan even had them attached. It clearly ended poorly. If you can zoom in, take a look at Bryan's face. Not only is his smile back, but he seems to be laughing. I revoked his 'Father of the Year' award for this.

After the fall.

Giving the swing another try, this time after it is finished. Now everyone is smiling!

My favorite part of the whole playset adventure: Bryan searched online for the playset. Bryan negotiated the price of the playset. Bryan drove to Greenwood, took apart and loaded the playset and brought it home through Indy during rush hour. Bryan unloaded and organized all the pieces of the playset. Bryan went in early to work so he could be home during more daylight hours to put the playset together faster...and all by himself. And it was Bryan that missed eating dinner with us so he could work up until dark. It was Bryan who worked in the rain this morning so Lilly could play on the playset today. And the best part....When Lilly saw the playset she shrieked with joy, ran up the ladder and went down the slide for the first time. She immediately rushed over, hugged my legs and said, "Thank you, Mommy. I love it!"

Party till you Puke

2010-09-26T21:27:00.007-04:00

Two blogs, one weekend. Two blog worthy activities, one weekend. That's why.
Key Bank hosted its employees today at The Children's Museum. They were serving mac and cheese for lunch and the Barbie exhibit was still there so we just couldn't miss it. Lilly is finally old enough to enjoy more of the Children's Museum than just the toddler playscape (although we still spent a lot of time there). The only problem is that she doesn't transition well from exhibit to exhibit.
For example: Here she is digging in the dinosphere. She got to wear goggles and use a little scraper and brush to help unearth some dinosaur fossils. When Bryan and I decided it was time to move along to the next exhibit...which by the way was only about twenty feet away and still in the dinosphere...Lilly collapsed. As far as she was concerned this was the most fun thing she had ever done in her entire life and nothing, NOTHING, would ever make her happy again. She cried, screamed and kicked. Well, until about 30 seconds later when we got the the dinosaur nest.
Just a close up of the goggles.

Then, at the dinosaur nest, Lilly dressed up like a dinosaur and collected eggs. Leaving this exhibit went a lot smoother. There just happened to be a little boy about her age waiting his turn to try on the dinosaur costume. When we told Lilly it was his turn she gladly took off the gloves and handed them over and then took him her vest. Bryan was shocked to say the least.

Next, we cruised through the train exhibit. Wasn't really Lilly's favorite, but she was sad to leave it none the less. Then we had lunch, the previously mentioned mac and cheese and a few other things, but all she noticed was the mac and cheese.

After that we headed to the Barbie exhibit. Bryan was a trooper, he helped brush Barbie's hair, even doing his best to put in a hair bow. He dressed a Barbie doll and managed to act excited to discuss Barbie fashion with Lilly. Then as we left he gazed longingly towards the G.I.Joe exhibit, looking forward to the day that we bring our son to the Children's Museum, but right now Lilly had no interest. And of course, Lilly left the Barbie exhibit the same way she left the dino-dig area...kicking and screaming.

But, about five minutes later (because that's how long it took me to make it up the ramps to the next level) she recovered from her devastation upon seeing the carousel and she insisted on riding a deer. And...after the carousel she cried and asked "again?". Bryan took her to play in a tree house while I got another ticket for the carousel. Then we learned something that many of you with older children may have already known; instead of distracting her while I got another ticket we should have simply distracted her and moved along. Because by the time I got back with the ticket she wanted no part of the carousel. That's right, she only wanted to play in the tree house, the ice cream shop and the other little play house. Guess what happened when we left the playhouses.

That's right, kicking and screaming. But, only until we got to the next area.

Bryan insisted that Lilly sit in the race car for a picture. Then Lilly and I realized he had an ulterior motive. He just wanted an excuse to get in there himself. They both left this area in tears.

At the end of the day Lilly and Daddy shared some ice cream and then we headed home. Now, I mentioned that Lilly cried and kind of threw a fit whenever we'd leave an exhibit because she was having so much fun, but she quickly recovered when she realized we were going to another fun hands on area. Well, when we left the table and headed to the car we got the fit, complete with kicking, screaming and shaking, but without the joy of another exhibit. This is where the title of the blog comes in...Lilly had herself so upset that while Bryan was buckling her into the car seat she threw up (and I gagged). But, this only caused her to pause in her temper tantrum. As soon as Bryan cleaned her up she continued with her impression of Linda Blair from 'The Exorcist'. About four minutes from home Lilly finally stopped screaming, and I assume swearing at us, and fell asleep. I carried her in a put her down in her bed, but hoped she wouldn't sleep long. She didn't. She woke up about an hour later in a mood that reminded me of a little of pit bull. So, Lilly and I cuddled in my bed and watched a cartoon while Bryan watched the Colts game in the living room. Lilly looked so cute in our big bed that I had to share a picture. She seems to be saying "No more pictures please."

Cousins' Day of Fun!

2010-09-25T08:41:00.008-04:00

When my cousin Brecquelyn moved here several years ago we lived in the same area for the first time in 24 years so we started a tradition called Cousins' Day of Fun. We would choose a day, plan an activity and spend the day together doing something fun. Even if it was just running errands, watching a movie on the couch or have drinks we've always enjoyed ourselves and each other's company. So, when Lilly was born it seemed natural to just include her in our special days. Our plans have had to change slightly since we started including her, but we still have a great time together. Instead of happy hour drinks we do milkshakes at DQ, instead of trips to the mall we do playdates at the park, and instead of watching movies on the couch we have tea parties. But, yesterday we finally did something that Brecq and I have wanted to do for a long, long time. We took a mini road trip to Centerpoint Indiana to visit the Exotic Feline Rescue Center.
The EFRC is a sanctuary for exotic cats that were owned illegally by individuals, unlicensed zoos or have been taken from their homes for a variety of reasons. It spans one hundred wooded acres and provides a proper home for over 200 exotic cats. Lilly loves kitties so this seemed like an obvious choice for yesterday's day of fun.
All three of us had a great time and loved seeing the 'kitties', but I didn't get many pictures and only one of Lilly because Brecq and I were both a nervous wreck keeping Lilly away from the fences. The EFRC is not a zoo, it is a place for neglected, abused or homeless cats to live out their lives and be taken care of. They offer tours as a way to help support the care of the cats, not to humor the public. Because of this, the most important thing is large natural enclosures for the cats, not wide paved walking paths for the people. The paths are about six or seven feet wide and there are fences with cats on both sides. The plant life makes it possible for a 500 lb tiger to lay right up against the fence and still be hidden so we had to be on guard 100% of the time to keep Lilly away from the fences because there is no safe space between people fences and kitties. Not to mention most of the cats were raised by humans so they aren't afraid or even shy of their human caretakers. And the way the big cats eye her was a little unnerving...they all looked at our Lilly like a cat in the wild would look at a wounded gazelle. The tour guide said they always show a lot of interest in little kids.
So, not a lot of pictures, but there are a few good ones of the kitties. We were standing right in the middle of this large African Lion (above), a tiger named Raja (below) and two other enclosures that included a total of five adult tigers when all of a sudden all of the cats stood up, ran towards the fence and started pacing, generally making everyone in the tour group a little uncomfortable. It was then that we mere humans heard the RTV, or food truck. So we got to watch while the keepers tossed parts of a horse into each of the enclosures.
The only picture of people. This was next to a pen with five enormous tigers so we thought it would just be best if Brecq held Lilly for a while.

Lilly's favorite. She insisted that this leopard was a baby jaguar...possibly Diego's baby jaguar.

All three of us had a great time and Lilly loved seeing the lions, tigers and cougars. But, the highlight of the day, at least for Lilly, was when we got back to Brecquelyn's house and Lilly was able to come in and pet one of her domestic cats.

The German Dress

2010-09-16T14:10:00.003-04:00

As many of you may know, Bryan's sister Cammie and her family have lived in Germany for the past seven years while her husband bravely serves our country in the army. When Lilly was born Cammie waited for Ed's leave and then quickly made arrangements for the whole family to come and see her new niece. She brought with her an adorable German dress. At the time it seemed closer to fitting me than the tiny baby she had intended it for. But, last night while organizing the closet in Lilly's big girl room I stumbled across the dress and began to wonder. Lilly was just as excited as I was to try it on. She called it her princess dress and I had to do some smooth manipulation to get her to take it off before dinner.
I thought everyone might enjoy the pictures, but don't be surprised if you see the dress again in the Halloween blog.