Taylor's First Christmas

Going after the paper! Who needs presents when you have paper!


The Christmas of 2006, Taylor's first of many. This one was spent in WI and was spread out over many a celebrations, most of which Taylor embraced, although sick as a dog. Taylor was hit with the crud and hard, but she was a trooper! Santa was good to her as were all our wonderful family. Thank you everyone for making Taylor's first Christmas so special.

Santa brought her a walker, Nana and gaga: oodles and oodles of toys, Nina and Papa and the Toson crew: memories, clothes, toys and more. What a week :)

They're back...

The pictures and new posts that is. The Toson family has been BOMBARDED with viruses, which included a computer one that took us offline for awhile, but we're all on the mend so the pictures will roll out again. Please be patient as we've done SO MANY fun things lately, so I have a lot of catch up to do!

We made it!

Well the girls and I made it safe and sound and they did great- until arriving on the homeland soil that is.... the flight was wonderful. Ana happily sang along while Rudolph saved Christmas on the portable, LIFE SAVING, DVD player and Taylor slept peacefully in my arms.

But peaceful has been FAR FAR from our itinerary since arriving. We spent Tuesday in the ER with Ana for a fever and other not so pleasant "girl" symptoms getting a catheter urine sample and other scary and sad tests, and Taylor has the FULL BLOWN WI flu CRUD! So much for that flu shot that we got before coming home!

Needless to say, while it's been great being home, we're not getting around to see many folks, as we've been in quarantined lock down here at the Rehnstrom house.

Poor girls!

On a VERY VERY exciting note...Ana is sleeping in a big girl twin bed and LOVING it! She is asking for bed and crawling in all by herself. Now I don't even get to cuddle and carry her to bed...where is my baby going?????? Next thing I know she'll be waving bye to me from her car door, duffle in hand, heading back to "her place"... NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

(BTW our computer crashed so picture are on hold....)

Hiking the North Carolina Falls

Bye Bye Foothills hello Smokies!! On one last pre-holiday road trip we took the girls into the mountains. Ana loved yelling out at all the mountains and Taylor was mesmorized by the falls. This particular hike took us right under the falls!!! It was a great day :)

6 Months

Taylor is sleeping away soundly after her 6 immunizations....why couldn't they have done this right before bedtime tonight?

Here are her 6 mo. Stats:
Weight: 19 lbs. 15 oz (off the chart) (for perspective...Ana currently ways only 5 pounds more)
Height: 27 1/2 inches (95%)
Head: 16 3/4 inches (50%)

So..for those of you whom doubted my entry of 18 mo clothes, here you have it. My little Taya IS the size of a 1.5 year old!!!!!!!!!! Bye, bye bin #4....only one more to go until the girls can share a closet!

Overall she is doing great and has met all milestones. He was really impressed by her interactivness and talking, as well as how quickly she could shift her emotions from laughing, smiling and talking, to screaming, crying and shaking (she turned on him b.c he moved her while she was happily playing with her toes). Let's just say not once did he suggest "crying it out" after that. And so, his reccomendations to my ONE MAJOR concern....sleep... was quite simply, "patience!" THANKS- big help!

Therefore, Justin and I will continue with our every hour tending to our precious Tay Tay, with strong hopes that one day, in the not so distant future, she figures out the joy of night time sleep. Until then, we continue to be amazed at how interested she is at the world around her, and how desperately she wants to be a part of everything around her! Such a buzy little body.

It's COLD

It's a high of 49 here today and I'm FREEZING. You would think I was in the arctic! Time to pull out those hats, scarfs, mittens and boots! What is my thin blood going to do in WI? Can y'all (ha, ha) work on warming up that weather before the 17th when the girls and I arrive. If you recall, Taya really likes to be HOT, not cold!

Reese, Gwen, Lucy, Jack...

New names in our house as Ana lovingly takes to naming her dolls now. It's quite cute. You now can hear her making her dolls have conversations, calling each other by name, playing games, doing each other's hair, feeding each other, ...

She also has independently taught herself lefts and rights. The other day (about a month or more ago now) she was repeatedly kicking her foot proclaiming something in a sing song voice. I didn't think much of it, but this "game" became a favorite all day, for days in a row. Finally I figured it out. She was raising her left foot singing, "left foot, left foot." When I asked her to show me her left foot, she excitedly raised it and then replied with a, "and this is my right foot. This my left hand, that's my right hand." raising each with complete accuracy! She hasn't missed a beat yet! (arms, legs, eyes, ears, elbows, and shoulders have been included now too)

The best part is that she now uses these descriptors to explain which part of hers, ours, her dolls.... body is hurt, stuck, needing help, needing kisses or explaining where to find something (which we can also use, answering her "mom where is ____", with a "It's next to/behind/... your ___ hand or foot"). It has come in quite handy.... more words=less tantrums! There is a light at the end of the toddler tunnel. I wonder if adolescence will prove to be this methodic?

She also thinks she's so funny adding "eeee" to the end of EVERYTHING. Nana is now Nani, Gaga- Gagi. Milk- Milky, Doll-Dolly, juice- juicy, Taylor- Tayee, eat- eatee, play-playee, paint-paintee .... I mean EVERYTHING!

OK, SERIOUSLY...

...I was kidding about Taylor not being in 12 mo anymore for the holidays, but sure enough.....we're packing away more and more "too tight or too short" 12 mo clothes and pulling out 18 mo clothes, which are fitting quite comfortably (this time there is some room to grow though, PHEW). The good thing is that we have 2 full bins, all seasons, of 18 mo clothes to go through, so we won't be short on clothes.

This girl is INCREDIBLE! 5.5 mo/18 mo.

We have her 6 mo check up in 2 weeks. I'm very curious to see some actual measurments.

Let's go Wisconsin Nani...Drive!

My parents were in town for a long Thanksgiving weekend and each good bye seems to get harder and harder on all of us, but especially little Ana.
This time Ana accompanied Nani and Gagi to their car and climbed in sitting on the back seat, pulling the seat belt over stating matter of factly that she was going to go with them to Wisconsin and that Nana was to get in and drive. It went something like this:
A: Come on Nani let's go Wisconsin
N: Ana you don't have a car seat
A: That's OK Nani, get in. Drive Nani
N: Where are we going
A: Wisconsin

This type of conversation went on for 5 or so minutes until she saw Justin and I come out, at which time she waved good bye and began picking out music for the trip.

Now..this might sound oh so cute, and it was until we had to get her out. Then we all started crying b.c she was so very sad to have to say a real good bye.

All day yesterday and today she has been out of sorts, moping around and crying out of the blue for Nani and Gagi.
This is going to be a long 3 weeks until the 3 girls board the plane for Wisconsin.

Trimming the Tree

Happy Holidays

We have kick started another glorious holiday season.
This year with our newest addition, little baby Tay Tay- who isn't so little anymore.

Naughty or Nice

Santa took a little break from toy making this year to meet the kids in our neighborhood. Ana was pumped to see Santa and the girls were all dolled up, looking festive as ever. Ana was excited to be "at a party" and it was going great until.....SANTA ARRIVED! Poor Ana was so scared!

As you can see, Tay Tay just loved all the hoop-la and attention- totally Amazed by Santa, but look at scared Ana. Have you ever seen her like this?? We couldn't get a smile, but sure produced a lot of frozen stiff looks and fear ridden tears. Here are some shots to share the moment with you all.

Aren't they cute?!?!?!?

Happy Thanksgiving

In spite of being away from home and missing you all dearly we had a top notch Thanksgiving this year. Nani and Gagi (Ana's new terms for my parents) came into town and Shelby, Craig and Even (new friends) celebrated with us. Ana really enjoyed the day. She helped cook up the stuffing, mixing away, and enjoyed the beautiful fall weather playing out back in the "leaf pile", as well as showing off her "suzy spider shoes" (what she will forever refer to her black shoes as). She ran around the house tapping and pointing her toes, more excited than ever! And then, during meal time, she gobbled up the turkey and stuffing like nobody's business. Then it was party time as Evan and Ana played until the wee hours of the morning (well...only 9:30 PM, but for those of you who know Ana, you know this is REALLY LATE- she is a strict 7/7:30 crasher. )
Taylor did great too. She got sweet potatoes for the first time and inhaled them, grabbing the spoon and shoveling more and more into her mouth. She slept a lot of the day, so sorry Tay Tay but we only got a jammy shot. She was OH SO CUTE in her coordinating sisters dress.
This year we do have a lot to be thankful for, but most of all for our precious girls. Also for family and friends who travel far and wide- by car, phone and e-mail- to stay close to us, even while away. Thank you and we love you all.

4th and running out of bins

Translation: We now have packed away 3 bins (0-3, 3-6 and 6-9) and dove full speed ahead into bin #4 (9-12 mo). Just to remind you, Taylor is barely 5 months old. She is 5 months old, but wearing- tightly I might add- 9-12 mo clothes. At this rate her and Ana will be in the same size in 3 months. How convienent will that be? The lucky thing for us is that Ana was in 9-12 months during the holidays last year, so the few cute little Christmas onsies we bought her will HOPEFULLY fit Taylor for the holidays this year. However, most of Ana's cutest 9-12 month ensembles were cousin Addy's. Good thing we're giong home soon- time to raid the Kluths bins again. Then again, who knows if she'll even be in that size still considering she's been blowing through sizes about one every month (4 sizes 5 months). THAT'S CRAZY.

Yet still, every feeding brings heart palpatations b.c she just won't eat.... obviously she does. When did I become such a stress case?!?!?!?!?!??! Sorry family!

November 18th, 2006: tooth #2

I KNEW that second one was right around the corner. This girl is blowing away her sister in development.

Now, if she could only catch on to her sister's sleep habits we'd be in business. For now we continue to wake and console her every 1-3 hours. And I was worried that I wouldn't have one on one bonding time. HA!

Don't worry Taya. I'll still bond with you, even if you don't get up between the hours of 10 PM and 6 AM. I promise.

Playtime gets better by the day

Here is Ana teaching Taylor all the tricks of the trade and trying out "Taylor's new toy" on loan from some friends in hopes of keeping our girls occupied a little longer!

Ana: "Look Tay Tay. This is a square top"

Yes, Ana is very proud to share her new found skill of labeling basic shapes in her world. She's still trying to master those colors, but is very determined. And Taylor loves to come along for the ride with anything Ana is will to share with her.

Daddy Gets a New Office Assistant

Taylor: 5 months

Solids: take 2

After waiting a month from our 1st trial, we started our 2nd attempt of solids with Taylor last week and it is going down as a huge success. She is gobbling up the oatmeal and prefers it over the rice cereal. She is even grabbing the spoon and pulling it into her mouth. Next on the list is avocado, then bananas and pears...all of which I have nicely cubed and frozen ready for Taylor consumption.
Again, I wonder why anyone buys this stuff. It's so easy to make and use....I'd have to argue that it's 10X easeir than staring at rows and rows of jars to pick just the right ones, purchasing, carrying and storing all those annoying little jars (come on you know every mother has dropped her share of baby food jars onto the grocery isle floor)!

Nov. 9, 2006- Taylor's 1st Tooth

4 days earlier than Ana and the 2nd one is right under the surface. And, surprisingly (sorry Tay Tay), but she is being quite the trooper. I'm thinking it must feel like no big deal compared to all her tummy aches and frustrations with life.

Taylor, you're getting so big so fast.....18.75 pounds big to be exact! For those of you who don't know baby sizes, that's HUGE for a 5 months old. For perspective, Ana wasn't even that big at 6 mo.

Row Row Row yur Boat

Here is the row row row your boat shot

Fall is Here

Our lovely wooded lot has proven to be the perfect toddler and baby play yard. The girls had a blast helping with yard work and playing in the leaves this weekend. Nice when all you have to wear is a vest! Look at how much fun they're having.
And, the best part it that this left me a decent amount of time to make up a few months supply of baby food! Can you BELIEVE it's that time already!!!!!