Ain't No Shame ...

Ain't No Shame ... I had to throw that out the window to share these and make you laugh - since I try to be funny and I'm really not, at least these pictures might do the job ... Have a good weekend!

Get ready ...

We've been hiding Taya's identical twin, but it's time to bring her on out, but please don't report us to CPS. Please.

I didn't think I took any objective meds while I was pregnant, but it appears I did ...

This is my favorite kind - right here of Paul - you do it just odd enough to where something's not right, but he could probably be a real person ... I don't know about this guy - he's pretty creepy don't you think?

(You don't have to have a Mac to get these crazy pics! If you have a webcam, you can go to http://www.cameroid.com/ like we did! It's always, I mean ALWAYS good for INSTANT LAUGHS - like stomach splitting, and I think it's hard to find that kind of laugh as much as we get older :) )

She's a Jolly Spewer Folks!

Here she is that night after the attempted bedtime.

Well, Taya spewed for the first time the other night, you know like real vomit, not just a cross between spit-up and vomit. So anyway, just to get that nice image in your mind, she was a little whiny before hand, then all of a sudden I hear a plop on the ground (I was holding her, but fortunately she dodged me), and look down and realize she had just spewed! (I think spew is one of the funnier versions of throwing up/barfing/vomiting/upchucking type of words - if you can't handle the bodily function talk, well - sorry) Anyway, so where was I? Oh yeah, she spewed! She was a little whiny before that, but not too bad, and then she was really happy afterward, even the next morning, even though she had 2 poopsies after that too that night (like I said, sorry). She was THIS happy, this is why I'm calling her a Jolly Spewer:

Fast forward a happy playful hour to bedtime: I'm rocking her in the dark, have just finished nursing her, at which point she would usually be asleep, and instead she starts babbling, so then I know I'm in trouble with getting her to sleep. But I couldn't get frustrated, she was being a little comedian! She kept moving further and closer to my face, back and forth, and just laughing like crazy. She was teasing me like crazy! Then she started doing a recent little trick of hers: sharing her pacifier - she'll take it out of her mouth and try to force it into yours! She will try until she makes sure that she has the right side of the pacifier going into your mouth! She thought it was hilarious! As did I. So then I just let her come out and play before an even later bedtime that was already late. She's a party animal and apparently a jolly spewer!

This girl is 11 months tomorrow!!! Craziness ...

Dada. Dada. Dada.

One Happy Dada's Day here! I don't know what got into me for Father's Day - I went all out! I had fun doing it. But first, here's a video of Taya saying Dada, repeating it back to us and everything - she started saying it a week ago, just in time for Father's Day - that was probably Paul's best gift by far.

But I tried to compete with some of my own ... :) I started by making Paul's favorite breakfast, his mom's recipe of Eggs Benedict and brought it to him in bed. He was surprised and I believe loved it :) Then after church, I had him open his big gift which he was not expecting at all - and thank you to Craigslist!!! - an untouched, brand new iPod Nano! For the price of others on Craigslist that were used, years old, and had less memory space. It was a great find! And again, he LOVED it. Still loves it of course. Hey, it's his first Father's Day! I can spoil him a little right?

Then for dinner ... I got to celebrate Father's Day with my husband and Father! We invited my parents over for dinner and I made Baby Back Ribs for the first time ever - one of Paul's favorites. I had seen this recipe done on tv, followed it, and the meat was basically dripping off the bone (thanks to a great and pretty simple recipe, not me). I also followed this recipe from the same episode for Grilled White onions wrapped in bacon and cored in the center with butter filling the center - thrown on the grill for an hour and a half. Wow. That was a TASTY, AWESOME, EASY recipe. And no drowning it in oil like onion rings! Last but not least, my mom brought a Banana Cream Pie (Paul's favorite and my Dad certainly didn't object - I had a hard time resisting just shoving that pie in his face - it's a perfect face pie!) so here is a picture of Paul holding his Banana Cream Pie and Taya with her 'Daddy's Lil' Dear' onesie on ... there is no other reason I would have her wear long sleeves in 107 Degree weather!

Anyhow, it was fun to spoil and thank Paul for the great job he has been doing as a Father, and to thank my Dad for his great example and unconditional love as my father.

Happy Dada's Day again! (I know I should have posted this days ago ...)

Is old news still good news?

Once upon a time, long, long ago... I had long, long hair, past the middle of my back.

Photo courtesy of Jana's photography.
But then! Choppedy Chop! I cut 13+ inches right off! (I just about can't handle this theme writing I'm doing - but we'll go with it)

That picture could be showing the shock of me chopping so much off ... or no, wait... it could also be showing my shock when I picked up the ponytail and not knowing the hairband was wrapped so loosely around it, watched ALL of my hair fall to the floor in every possible direction before my eyes! Aaarrrgghhhhh!! Anyway, I thought I had gotten over that, but apparently not. So hence the reason it looks like a rat's nest in that picture too (it was this nice clean pontytail before the tragic fall - still kinda gross I know. I'm donating it - so hopefully they'll except a ponytail that's been put back together)

You saw the long before of it, so here is the short after of it. And tell me, does my niece, Sophi, (age 9) look like she could be my daughter? Once I cut my hair, both my brother and sister-in-law said, 'Whoa! You look even MORE like our daughter now!' (she had just recently cut her hair too, and we've always been told we look alike - actually I don't think this particular picture shows it as much though).

So, is old news still good news? Because this is old news. I did it over 3 weeks ago. Why the wait? My parents have been out of town for 3 weeks - I wanted to surprise them when they returned, and I was afraid they might check my blog before then.

So I'm having fun with my new haircut - quite a change, full-on bangs and short hair. Oh yeah, and guess who I got the cut from. Just guess. ...
Okay, I'll tell you ... Nicole Richie! For some reason that just makes me laugh. I didn't exactly forsee myself choosing a Nicole Richie kinda look, but here we are!

Enough about my hair! So Vein! To finish this off, I just have to mention that when my parents arrived from their trip, their return date was their 40th anniversary! 40 Years!!!!!! Wow. Congratulations. 40 years is a long time - that takes a lot of work and commitment no matter who you are. So as family we waited at the airport for them with balloons and a grandchild-made 40th Anniversary Sign. The next day we had a very nice and really, really tasty dinner with flowers, cards, and of course the classic 'You are Special' plate for them. Congrats Mom & Dad! !We love you.

Misc. Taya Moments

There is a teasing tongue twister that tells of Taya's Teething. Taya's teething. Just teasing. No really, Taya's teething. Not teasing.

(Her bottom two are coming in - she is a late bloomer! But they're poppin up!)

Now for some unrelated pictures ... (since getting a picture of her first two teeth coming in would do them no justice anyway)

Growing up too fast!
You didn't know Taya has a boy twin named Taylor? Here he is! (Love the 'my jeans are too tight and my shirt is too short' belly hangover) ... by the way Dixon friends, if you look closely at Taya's shirt - Lambtown USA! Go Dixon!
I already told you DaDa - FASTER!!
She better not do this when she leaves the house for high school - I've heard of those tricks!