Zoo Zoo and more Zoo

We have been taking advantage of this nice weather and heading out to the zoo every week. A few week ago my mom and I took the girls to Zoo Lights. We were the dorks with winter jackets, hats, and gloves in 58 degrees. There were literally people there in shorts. But whatever the girls were just getting over nasty colds.Ever wonder who buys those lame pictures they take at the door and charge a small fortune for....Sucker Grandmas!

Notice the cute winter jacket- Thanks Kathy- love and miss you!Last week Josh and I took the girls for the day.

Sting Ray Bay
Being a 2 year old!

This week we went with our friends Owen and Kristin. We had a great time except for the wild animal attack! Let me set the scene...We were all eating a nice lunch by the lake. I was talking about how I hate when kids feed the ducks even though it is clearly posted not to. Moments later I hear Kayleigh squeal and a wild duck lunges with an open mouth ready to bite at Kayleigh's hand. He almost took her sandwich and a few digits, he was less than an inch away from her hand. Luckily no one was harmed. But that nasty duck stood at the end of the table the rest of our lunch- he pooped there also. So please do not feed those ducks- they get mean and aggressive.
Kristin was kicked off that poor dolphin. Something about weight restrictions..oops I mean having to stand next to small children. : )

Park Fun

Now that the weather is getting so nice we are at the park everyday! Kaykay wakes up saying, "We go to the park now?" Last week end we went with the Grandparents to Freemont park. Kayleigh loved the train and Taylor loves being outside. Kayleigh has never been to fond of swings, slides- the bigger the better, but not so much swings. She is starting to go on them more and more. Notice the death grip her legs have on papa. : )

Yuck!!!

So my sweet little Taylor had her 1/2 Birthday on Dec 23rd! The next day she tried rice cereal for the first time. I must say that she is not a fan of food just yet. I continually have to reassure her that I am not poisoning her and it is merely mommy's milk with a little extra. She is not going for it at all. She just sticks her tongue out like "seriously mom, six months and you give me this crap?" We try everyday and everyday she spits it right out. She does however enjoy playing with spoons and sippy cups. A few days later I took her in for her 6 month visit. Little chunker is 16# 9 oz! So I am not so concerned with the lack of food intake because she nurses enough to keep those thigh rolls nice and plump! I think she felt a bit yucky that night after the slew of immunizations. She was even more cuddly than normal. I did not complain a bit!
Six Months old and such a wonderful little love bug. Taylor loves sucking on her toes, rolling around from one end of the room to the other, being tickled, cuddling, and bouncing on her strong little legs. It often requires cat-like reflexes to change her diaper because she just wants to roll over and move. She is definitely a mama's girl! If I even think of leaving her sight she is sure to let me know that is not going to work for her. She just started saying 'mama mama', okay so I now she is just babbling. I just like to pretend she knows that means me. She always smiles and giggles when I talk to her. I am loving every second of it! Taylor loves her big sister for sure! When Kayleigh actually does talk to her- her whole body moves all over because she is so excited she can not hold still and she just giggles. She was the perfect addition to our little family!

Merry Christmas

Here are some pictures from our multiple Christmas celebrations. I had to work Christmas day so we celebrated everything a day early this year. Christmas Eve was our Christmas morning. We were all exhausted! Kaykay was up with us most of the night with an awful cold. We still had fun opening gifts and Josh made a huge breakfast! We spent that evening at my parents house along with Josh's family and my grandmas. Kayleigh was overwhelmed with all the gifts. We had to keep telling her to "keep opening" because she just wanted to sit and play with each one. I got out of work a few hours early on Christmas day and met up with my family at Josh's family's house for some more food and presents. Lastly, a few days later the girls opened gifts from Maggie and Mike. We had so much fun spending time with our wonderful family. It is amazing how much this family loves our little booger nose girls!

Christmas

Packer Christmas

Last night we had our first Christmas celebration. Jared and Carrie are going back to IL this week for the holiday so we did Christmas with them last night. It was also the Packer game and my Grandma Gerre's early 75th bday celebration. We watched the game. Okay so Gma's and the boys watched the game. I cuddled my Taylor girl and Carrie played with Kaykay. Half time was presents and cake! Then it was home for the Thie's. We missed the end of the game- which was perfect. Jared and Gma Gerre are pretty serious Cheese Heads and a loss to the Bears is pretty devastating, no one needs to be around my brother for a good day after something like that (sorry Carrie). That is the first of many Christmas celebrations between family in and out of town and our work schedules. Stayed tuned for more holiday cheer....

Family Pictures

Here are a few of my favorites from our family photo shoot. We love our photographer and have really decided outside rather than the studio is much better for our family (the two year old especially). My mom went to help with the girls. Some photos Josh and I are laughing out loud as my mother is jumping and barking like a dog. But the girls would smile and look at the camera, so hey whatever works!

Luminaria

We took the girls to Luminaria this year at Desert Botanical Garden. Kayleigh of course loved it! She loves being outside and loves music (especially Christmas music). Her favorites were the bells and the musician that looked like Santa. I cuddled Miss Taylor in my sling and Kaykay walked or wanted Papa or Sharon to hold her. My poor mom pushed a double stroller through the gardens full of our bags- no kids. Sounds about right!

Thanksgiving (finally- i know)

We spent Thanksgiving at Jared and Carrie's (Emmie's) house. Carrie's parents and brother were all in town. Kayleigh loves Sharon (Carrie's mom) and is still talking about her. She made a gingerbread house with her and loved the snow on the house- yum. Josh's family came over as well. I just love when we get to spend time with everyone together. The food was awesome. Jared did a deep fried turkey and Carrie did one in the oven. I am not sure who's turkey won, but they were both delicious.

Important Life Lesson

It does not matter if you win or lose. What is important is how cute you look at the game!!