Eating and Drinking

I know, I know, this kind of stuff will bore most everyone. However, because I love my daughter so much, I think everything she does is amazing. :) So, bear with me as I share pictures and video of her eating and drinking.
One of her favorite foods these days is graham crackers. I was letting her feed some to herself and she was trying to cram this really wide piece into her mouth so I tried to get a picture of it. I didn't manage to get it before she was able to cram the whole thing in her mouth but I thought I'd show you what I mean. She does this with most of her food. If it doesn't fit the first time, just keep cramming and it'll go in.







This past week, she's also gotten much more consistent about being able to use a sippy cup by herself. She still likes me to help her sometime but quite often, she'll hold it with both hands and drink away on her own.

The funny face she's making in a few of these pictures she often makes during meals. Sometimes she does it with food she likes, but usually it's with foods she's not as fond of. She just cracks me up!

Enjoy!

Taeya's New Toy & My B-day

Well, today is my birthday. I am now 27 years old. I'm feeling less like a young adult and more like an adult as the years go by. I have had a nice day with several family members calling and Phil, Taeya and I are planning on going out to eat tonight. I'm thinking Thai but that might change. I did go to the dentist today...silly of me, I know. When the receptionist called yesterday regarding my filling that had partially fallen out, she said they had an opening today. Since my schedule was open and I thought I could find someone to watch Taeya, I took the spot before remembering that it was my birthday. Thankfully, it wasn't a bad trip as they didn't have to numb and drill anything, they just put a tiny patch on my tooth so it turned out alright.

Over the weekend, we went to a friend's house to celebrate her first birthday. While we were there, they let me borrow their jump-up seat because their daughter didn't like it at all. Click on the video to see Taeya's reaction.

Labor Day and LOTS of pictures

Aren't we a cute little family?Well, it's only been a week since Labor Day. I've posted about other things but haven't made time to post about the fun we had on Labor Day.
We decided to get out and about instead of sitting at home. We went to visit Rifle Falls. The nice thing about them is that you park and only have to walk in a few hundred feet to see them. No hiking miles and miles. :) We got there and paid our entrance fee. The falls were very pretty and Taeya enjoyed them. She kept cooing and saying "aaahhh." We didn't stay at the falls very long because a storm was coming in. We could have hiked up above the falls (which I wanted to do, but couldn't convince Phil to do because of the raindrops).

Posing with Rifle falls behind us.


Wow! That's pretty cool.



How'd I get up here?
I'm up high!We thought Taeya might enjoy some tree "climbing"

I'm SO strong! But hey, this rock is getting pretty heavy.





Taeya was VERY happy standing here looking at the stream below.

I'm going to be a spleunker when I grow up!
As we were heading out, we saw the sign for the fish hatchery which we heard was fun to visit. It was just down the road about a mile so we went there. Entrance was free and they give you little dixie cups of food to feed to the fish. Taeya had fun watching all the fish flop around and eat their food. She seemed even more excited here than at the falls. The hatchery was really interesting. They have rows and rows of fish getting ready to stock the rivers and lakes of CO. The lady that worked there said last year they stocked CO w/about 4.8 million fish last year. Taeya discovered flowers again. Her little hands just wanted to grasp and squash the little beauties. We left the hatchery when it really did start to rain. All in all, it was a very fun day.






Taeya was mesmerized by the flowers.

They're so preeeettttttyyyyyyyyyyyyyy.
One of Taeya's favorite activities these days is standing up. Hope you enjoyed the pictures. I know there were lots but I wanted to share my favorites.

Number 2

Guess who has two teeth now?

Taeya was fussy today at the birthday party we went to and this evening when we got home as well. I was giving her a bath tonight when I noticed that she now has two teeth in that little mouth of hers. It's just broken through but I think she's feeling a bit better.

My Little Food Monster

Taeya is LOVING eating these days. I've been trying to feed her what we're eating for dinner and she's done really well. The other night we had chicken cassarole which she enjoyed. She loves chicken. Last night we had grilled cheese and she fed herself the entire half of a sandwhich (minus the crust), 1/4 of an avacado, 3 graham cracker triangles, 1/2 a yogurt (I fed her the yogurt) and a small piece of cornbread.

This morning for breakfast, she ate a graham cracker, 1 1/2 blueberry pancakes, 1/4 of an avacado and some of Phil's egg. She was so cute eating the pancake. She just kept cramming it in. As Phil said, she still doesn't have very good table manners. I'll have to get a video of it as we find her hilarious to watch.

She's so much fun these days. Full of giggles and trying to do more and more. I have a little booster seat that she enjoys sitting in. She gets this very proud look on her face because she's sitting in her very own chair. (I have a picture of this but it's still on my camera). She loves knocking over blocks and banging them together.

One of Taeya's favorite games is peek-a-boo. I've uploaded a video of Hayley playing peek-a-boo with Taeya. Oh, I just love my little girl. She is my joy!

My Quirks

*Edit* I forgot to tag people...
Sarah, Rachel, Stephanie, Jennifer, and anyone else who reads my blog on a regular basis, consider yourselves tagged. Make sure to leave a comment letting me know when you complete your post. :)

I was tagged by Elisha L to post about 6 of my quirks. I'm always horrible trying to think of these things (although I'm sure I have many).

Let's see...

1. I love to be super organized and all my organization boxes have to match. I started buying purple tubs from Target back in college and if I need a new storage tub, it has to be a purple one from Target. I don't like lots of mismatched tubs. In my closet, I have smaller clear boxes with blue lids (I use them in my craft area as well). All of my tubs are labeled with a labelmaker or typed labels so they look nice and clean. My linen closet tubs are smaller and also all match and are labeled. In my kitchen everything has it's place and my spices are all lined up alphabetically. I even have a sheet of paper (typed) with what extra spices I have so if I'm running low, I can fill up my matching, labeled, spice jars. Want me to come organize for you? :)

2. I love math. It's a passion of mine. I want other people to like and love it as well. I enjoy math games and things that make me thing. Math is fun to me.

3. I can't handle it when people tap repetatively. It grates on my nerves and if it's going on, I can't think or function normally. They either have to stop or I have to leave. Drives me CRAZY!

4. I don't mind a little bit of dirt. If my food falls on the floor/ground, I usually pick it up and brush it off. I'm not germaphobic and think it's okay for little kids to touch Taeya. Obviously, I try to protect her from sickness but I don't go out of my way to make people wash their hands etc before holding or touching her even when she was little.

5. I love to read but I hate picking out my own books to read. I'd much rather read a book that's recommended then have to find one on my own. I'll go to the library and leave with nothing because I don't know what to read.

6. I take TONS of digital pictures but don't like deleting the bad ones because I'm afraid that I'll delete some memory that someday I'll want to look back on and wish I had kept. I'm nostalgic.

Hanging Lake

This cute shirt was sent by Taeya's VA grandparents. It's a 4T but I thought she could try it on for them to see how cute she looks in it now. :)

Can you see my tooth in this picture? It's there!
When Phil's family was here in May, he hiked to Hanging Lake with his parents and sister. It's a pretty intense hike so I stayed at the park with Great Grandma, Timmy and Taeya. Ever since moving here, I've wanted to see hanging lake because I've heard it's so beautiful. On Saturday, we decided to go as a family.

I volunteered to carry Taeya in a backpack carrier that we borrowed from friends on the way up and Phil could carry her on the way down. I'm trying to get in better shape so I thought this would be a good exercise in endurance. Whew...was it ever! From the parking lot, you walk in 1/2 mile before you get to the trail. It's then 1 1/4 miles UP the mountainside on a pretty rocky path. It's basically a mile and a quarter of stairclimbing...without the stairs. You really have to watch your step most of the way although there are a few sections where it turns into a dirt path.

Megan and Taeya at the 1/2 mile mark. (See how tired I already look?)

We finally made it to the top. That's hanging lake behind us.
When I got to the 1/4 mile marker, I was already huffing and puffing and didn't think I could make it much further. Phil encouraged me to keep going and I made it to 1/2 mile where we got a bite to eat. I told him that he had to take Taeya as I needed a break. He took her but she started crying when she was on his back. He carried her for about 5 minutes and then passed her back to me because she was still crying. Even though more than once I thought I'd have to turn back, I carried her the rest of the way to the top where we saw the beautiful hanging lake that is crystal clear on the edge of the cliff with waterfalls running into it. It was absolutely amazing. We rested for about 15 minutes before beginning our decent.

Phil again tried to backpack Taeya and again, she cried. (She was getting really tired by this point as well). Phil carried her down the very steep top part and then passed her back to me. I carried her down the rest of the way. (I think Taeya liked it better when I carried her because I tried to stabalize my upper body so she didn't shift around as much. Taeya loves her daddy and usually has no problem being carried by him. I think it was just a different situation with the backpack). It was MUCH easier going back down with her but I was wiped out by the time we arrived back at the car after 3 1/2 miles of carrying Taeya. She fell asleep part way down and slept all the way back to the car.

Hanging Lake

Taking a break.
See how crystal clear the lake is? If you look close, you can see some fish.



We had a fun time as a family enjoying the beauty of God's creation. I felt like I accomplished something and would love to do it again someday.

I don't know these people but just wanted a picture to show that a lot of people are adventuresome and walk out onto the fallen log.

Taeya in her backpack.
On our way back down. This is at the top of the really steep part.
We have to hike all the way back down to the bottom.
All tuckered out. We decided that Taeya know how to do a hike...have someone carry you and take a nap along the way.