Tutu

I am in love with Caroline and Taylor's new tutu's. Seriously I am not sure why it took me so long to get photos of the girls in one!!!

Taylor was off with Grammy and PawPaw this evening so I wasn't able to capture pics of her; no worries I have plans for her and her tutu as well!

So after the pool I decided to take some of my cutie pie and her pearls. I could eat her up!

(Side note--we had just gotten back from the pool so don't pay attention to C's sun block drenched hair!)

Taylor Driving?!

The two girls can finally enjoy the Barbie Jeep together! Taylor asked if she and Caroline could ride in it together on Friday night. How sweet?! Taylor kept them going in circles and all around the cul-d-sac for awhile until she told me to get Caroline out...Umm not so sweet but I guess that is what goes on between siblings :)

Taylor is close to the BIG 3

Taylor was running away from me and the camera. When I want her to do something she thinks it is really funny to run from me.

I gave the girls lollipops during out little photo shoot...Umm I am not sure that was the best idea! I had to share as I thought this was hilarious. I mean poor Caroline might pull out her only two teeth!

Taylor is also close to hitting a milestone. She will be three August 20th; the day before Caroline turns one! Oh yes August is a busy month for the McKay household! I think I could go on and on about Taylor. She is a little ham. She loves attention and acting silly. Taylor is very active and doesn't sit still long. Right now she is really into jumping all over the place. She talks all the time, she sings (well known songs and ones she makes up), she dances, and loves to watch Dora and the Backyardigans. She has moved up to taking big girl showers (once in awhile she still wants to take a bath). I think it is adorable that usually when she is in the shower I can hear her in there singing. She is very inquisitive and is continuously asking us "Why?" She sleeps well once she is asleep but goodness getting her to finally close her eyes and sleep is quite the chore! Rob has pretty much taken over this task. She has him wrapped around her little finger so she gets away with A LOT more than she can with me.

She isn't our good eater any more as she prefers snacks and candy. We have to bribe her to eat her meal on most occasions. She is really into band-aids and always wants one on even if there is nothing wrong. She is a little sassy and had tons of personality! Love it!!

She is extremely independent and wants to do everything BY HERSELF! I could really go on and on.

We love you sweetie and enjoy every minute with you...even with some of the tantrums :)

11 months!

Caroline turned 11 months on Tuesday. Gracious time really is flying by! My youngest baby really isn't such a baby any more. I have been busy planning the girls birthday party. I am almost sad that I am already planning a 1st and 3rd birthday for the girls. I want them to stay little :)
We were going to do a separate one for each but with the invite list and all the other details it got to be too much. We are having one big party and hope it all turns out well on August 22nd. I will certainly post pictures after the big event.
Caroline is a Mommy's girl and is still attached to my hip. If I am in the room she wants to be right underneath my feet or in my arms. I do love it most of the time but want her to be a little less attached.
She is a happy smiley baby though. She has gotten really good at walking with her walking toys. She will stand by herself for several seconds until she realizes that she is doing it on her own. I think that scares her and then she drops down. I think she just needs confidence and then off she will be! She has also gotten a little sneaky and she has found the stairs now too. A couple of weeks ago we took our eyes off of her for a minute and the next thing we knew she was four stairs up!!

She really likes being outside and watching the neighborhood kids play. She is always watching her big sis Taylor and laughs a lot at her too. I think they will be good friends one day!
Caroline has her own little way of waving "bye-bye"; she just gives you the hand. It is funny and of course adorable to us. She has definitely found her voice. She is working on forming those words but nothing is too clear yet except for "Da Da"
I swear she used to say "Ma Ma" but guess that was just to appease me a couple of months ago :) She babbles all the time and likes to squeal (wonder if she picked that up from Taylor?) She likes to clap her hands and gets so excited when I sing "If you are Happy and you Know it!" She still only has her two bottom teeth but we think she has been trying to cut some the past week or so.
She loves her teachers at Village Kids, Ms. Myniah and Ms. Nevona. She is really attached to them as well. Her teachers tell us that when they walk away or leave the room that she starts to cry. It is so odd for us to experience this separation anxiety as Taylor never went through it.
She is eating like such a big girl these days. She will eat almost anything we give her. I think her favorite food is graham crackers and any type of fruit. We started giving her half milk and half formula in her bottle around 3 weeks ago. Today is the last day that she will get any formula in her bottles and we are going to start gradually taking them away. At daycare they have been putting her milk/formula in a sippy cup for about two weeks. She is doing so well! Again I am a little sad, no more bottles?! Our baby is growing up and way too fast!
Caroline and Taylor bring Rob and I so much happiness! We are so lucky and truly blessed.

She LOVES to climb.

I attempted to have my own photo session last weekend. What a sweetie!

This was taken on July 22nd, 11 month b-day.

She caught me trying to take her picture and started coming my way.

More dance pictures and Video

Taylor really likes to tumble too and loves to do her forward rolls. The dance teacher had to help several girls with their roll but I laughed because when Taylor came up to the mat she informed Ms. Angela she could do it "by myself!" Gosh we hear that so much these days!!

Here are some video clips that I took from my camera. It isn't the best filming but so glad that I went back home to get the camera!

Taylor seemed a little unsure about this one. I think she was trying to figure out who all the parents were sitting on the floor...

All the little girls were so cute! This was a 3-5 yr. old class. Hard to believe our little Taylor will be a big three year old in a month!

Final Dance class

Taylor has been going to dance class at Nan's School of Dance for the past six weeks. It was a short summer class where the girls could just be introduced to dance. (This way if you registered for the whole year and then later realized your little one didn't like dance class you weren't wasting all that money!!) Well I think we might be signing Taylor up for the whole year program. She loved dance class and was a little upset when I told her Tuesday night that was her last class for this session. She kept asking to go back. Rob and I are definitely going to look into the fall session at Nan's or another local studio. At the end of class the parents were invited into the studio to watch the girls perform. I think it was really cute. Rob was even upset he didn't make it to see Taylor in action. She is constantly jumping, twirling and dancing around the house. Some moves are hilarious and I often wonder where she is learning them?!...still really cute.

Here they are getting ready to perform/Taylor jumping--she does that all the time!

Glad to see you!

This Sunday Mimi and Popie came over for dinner and as you can tell the girls were happy to see them!

Hopefully Taylor didn't hurt Mimi here...Big hugs!

Popie's little girl

Family Beach Trip 2009

Enjoying the swing set after a morning of traveling back from the beach!

Can you tell Taylor would not let Mommy do her hair today?!

What a sweet big sister pushing Caroline.

More beach pics (things are really out of order but can't get my blog to cooperate and I am too tired to fix it)

The DVD was a BIG hit; usually there was some quiet time with it on (well except for Taylor who doesn't sit still too long!) These two like sticking out their tongues.

Mason might be one of the smartest 3 years old I know. He has been putting together puzzles (like 24-36 pieces) for a while now! Taylor was helping him out here :-)

Silly Daddy!

Caroline might be a genius too...look she is working with the puzzle! Well I am sure she is trying to eat it really!

Surfer boys...Aiden and Skyler

That is Caroline's wave...she gives the hand!

Cheese Ellie and Mason!

Taylor really enjoyed the ocean this year. She wanted to go out far with Daddy..well when she wasn't eating snacks :-)

While we were at the beach, Mason turned three on July 7th. My sister Kerri did a fabulous job putting together a little party for him. They went to the Children's Museum, decorated their own cupcakes and then tore into a pinata. Lots of sugar but lots of fun for all of them too!!!

Caroline and Jake just observed the birthday party festivities. I am sure next year they will be running around too.
Pinata time

Mason got lots of nice presents.HAPPY BIRTHDAY MASON! Hard to believe he is three already!!!

How cute is Caroline?! Beach Baby!

Caroline loved the ocean and was constantly on the go!

Taylor loving on Mason with Uncle Jimmy and Jake...Mason wasn't into it!

Jacob and Caroline....our almost one year old babies!

My brother's kids...Aiden, Skyler and Ellie.

Oh yes I got that pony tail in at the beach!

We were beach bound on July 4th for a whole week with my family. We met my parents (Grammy and PawPaw), my sister and her family and then my brother and his family. We go every year and always have a wonderful time. All the kids had a fabulous time with one another playing in the ocean and building in the sand. They were constantly on the GO!; running around, dancing and singing...(Mason, Taylor and Ellie really have The Backyardigans theme song down!)