Monkey on her back

I was afraid we would miss our flight, so I made us go to the airport super early. Well, we had 2 hours to kill at the Portland airport, so we went shopping. In one of the stores, they had some of the cutest backpacks for children. They had zebras, giraffes, dogs, sheep, lions, etc. of animal backpacks. Too cute. We let Taylor pick her out one and she picked the monkey. It is super cute and she loves it!

Distance makes the heart grow fonder

It's been a crazy few days. We got in saturday night from Oregon and Sunday afternoon, I packed Taylor into the car and off we went. We drove to Buffalo to meet my dad with the dogs. We had a nice lunch at Dairy Queen and then Taylor, the dogs and me drove to Waco to meet Nana and Poppy. We meet them at the mall and Taylor and the dogs went to Brownwood with Nathan's parents. I've been working in Waco the last three days and Nathan is in New Orleans for work, so Taylor went to stay with Nana and Poppy. I miss her like crazy! We are going to Brownwood friday, so I'm trying my best to hold out till then. I talked to Taylor today, but she was a little busy shopping and meeting people with Nana. Friday won't come soon enough.

Taylor's First Haircut

My cousin Angie is a hairdresser and has always cut our hair when we are together. It was only fitting that she give Taylor her first haircut. We were going to do it in Angies new adorable shop, but ran out of time. When I was little, we use to always get our hair cut sitting on this high chair either in Grandmas kitchen or out on the deck, so it worked out perfect that Taylor sat in the same high chair on the deck.

Family Vacation to Oregon

We had a wonderful trip to Oregon. The flight up was alittle bumpy and I'm not talking about turbulence. Taylor did realitively well, but had a few moments when the pressure got to her. We stayed in Portland with my cousin and her family for the first two days. Sunday we took a lunch cruise on the Spirit of Portland with my grandmother, mom, Angie, Vince and Jeff. My grandma and Taylor's greatgrandma has now been dubed GG.

Here's my cousin Angie, Jeff and Vince with Taylor.

Taylor met little two brothers on the cruise. They had been watching each other for a while and then finally Taylor made her way over to play with them. They were so sweet together.

Monday we drove down to Medford where GG lives which is 4 hours from Portland. When we got there, we went straight to work in her yard. GG has beautiful rose bushes and grapes woven in lattice fences. Her back yard is beautiful, but needed some work since it is getting harder for her to do it. We spent 2 days working in the yard and Taylor ate dirt for the first time. If only I had a picture! I don't think she minded it, but I wasn't about to let her think it was okay to eat dirt.

Enjoying a little lunch on the patio.

Working hard in the yard - such a big helper!

Thursday night, Angie, Nathan and I went to the RoxyAnn Winery in Medford. I had never been to a wine tasting before. They had a dessert wine, a late harvest viognier, that was fabulous. We had such a great time.

This isn't my best picture, but it shows the cute little winery.

Friday we went to Crater Lake. I had been when I was little, but I don't remember it being this beautiful. I guess you don't always appreciate things when your little. Nathan was impressed and said it put Lake Tahoe to shame. I'll let the pictures speak for me. They say a picture is worth a thousand words......

Taylor with GG at the lodge waiting to eat lunch.

Angie, Nathan, Taylor, me and Uncle Bob

This is one of our best family pictures from our trip. I do wish that Taylor didn't have a cookie in her mouth!

Well, I wish I could finish out the post on our trip with smiles and rainbows, but I have to tell about our flight back to Dallas. It started off great - Taylor went to sleep an hour into the flight. Half an hour later, she woke up when they turned the fasten seatbelt sign on. This is when the nightmare started. I guess the pressure had built up in her ears while she was a sleep because she screamed bloody murder for an hour and a half - I'm not exaggerating! We tried everything, but she wouldn't eat or drink anything. Nathan and I had to stand in the back of the plane while she screamed and threw herself around. It was like nothing I had ever seen before. Finally we got the eye dropper out and gave her water with it. She finally started sucking on it and after half an hour, she stopped crying and became the precious little angel we know and love. Everyone on the plane were so sweet and tried to give us advice and help, but nothing worked. I just knew they were going to clap when we stepped off the plane. Needless to say, we will not be traveling by plane until Taylor can pop her own ears and I will never travel with an infant again!

Yoga for babies

This is Taylor's newest thing to do. We keep waiting for her to do a summersalt, but she just sits down. I guess it is neat to see the world upside down. We say that she is doing her baby yoga move (Downward Dog). It's fun to watch her try new things and watch those little wheels in her head turning.

I think I might know where she learned this. We went over to our friend Abigails house tonight to play and borrow a DVD for our plane ride this weekend. Abigail kept doing this same pose and Taylor would too.

Flying with a one year old............................

We are going to Oregon next weekend to see my cousin and grandma. We've never flown with Taylor and are kind of nervous about it. She's at the stage where she doesn't want to sit still and wants to be up walking around all the time. Everyone keeps telling me that maybe she'll sleep the whole time or part of the time, but we aren't sure about that. She doesn't like to go to sleep when there are people around because she doesn't want to miss anything. We have a 4 hour plane ride to Portland, so if anyone has any advice, please, please, please share it with me!

Thanks!

Weekend at Grandma and Grandpas in Houston

Taylor and I went to Houston for the weekend because I was helping throw a baby shower for my moms bestfriends daughter. Nathan had a wedding in Tulsa he attended for a work friend, so Taylor and I road tripped to Houston friday and saturday I went to the shower with mom while my dad babysat Taylor. We rearranged the furniture in the living room to block her in there with grandpa. I was kind of worried about them, but they did fine and had a good time together. I forgot Taylor's toys, so she had to play with tupperware and measuring spoons all weekend.

The baby shower was really nice and it was great to get to see Mrs. Patterson and Michelle (mommy-to-be). My mom and Mrs. Patterson worked together for many years at KHS and Michelle babysat me several times when I was little. They are practically family to us!

While in Houston, my dad and I took my mom to the mall to buy her her birthday present. She would die if I told yall her age, so I'll just say it is a big one!! While we were in Macy's, Taylor couldn't stop watching the escalators. My dad took her for a ride on the escalators and she loved it!

Taylor and I left Houston around 10 am this morning to head back to Dallas. We were ready to get back to see Nathan, but also, Crystal had her baby saturday morning. Taylor and I went straight to the hospital when we got into Dallas this afternoon. We got to meet little Somang (pronounced Soma). She is precious and absolutely beautiful! Taylor said Hi to Somang and then checked out the hospital room the rest of the time we were there.

What a busy weekend.

Reading the mail

Taylor and I kind of have a mail routine that we do every time we get the mail. Taylor gets to hold the mailbox key and I carry her to the mail box. She hands me the key, I open the box, pull out the mail and then she takes the key back. Her job is to hold the key for me while I carry the mail. Then, when we get inside the house, we sit on the floor and go through the mail together. Taylor gets to play with the junk mail and I give Nathan all the bills!

Today while Taylor was going through all the junk mail/catalogs, she just started giggling and turning the pages of the catalog like a little person reading a book. It was precious!

Our last day at the lake

This was our last day at the lake before we went home to see Nathan. Nathan had been in Tahoe from wednesday to saturday. Dad had gotten a tube for Christmas and wanted to try it out. No, Taylor did not go tubing, but I know she wanted to! You could see it in her eyes!



Taylor wasn't too happy with being dipped in the lake to cool off.




Grandpa Koester trying out his new tube.

Lake Travis with Grandma and Granpda Koester and Uncle Zach

Taylor with Uncle Zach, Teddy and Tait.



Taylor and Grandma in the pool.



Grandpa taking Taylor for a swim.




Taylor sporting her new life vest.




First boat ride on Grandpas boat on Lake Travis.




Worn out! Precious!

Baylor Bears......Sic'em

Mom, Zach, Ashley and Taylor at the Baylor bookstore.

On our way down to Austin, we stopped at Baylor and met my friend Ashley at the Baylor Bear pit. The bear wasn't in the open area, but we got to see the bear in her room.

Taylor searching for the bear.

Loving the attention........

Taylor loved having her Uncle and Grandma here last week. She had constant attention from my mom and brother.

Who knew sitting in a basket could be so much fun!

Taylor loves her rocking horse. My grandfather made the horse several years ago before he died. My grandmother shipped it down from Oregon so Taylor could enjoy it while she was little.

Man its hot out here!