My girly girl

Don't get me wrong, Taryn just loves her brother and freely chooses to play with cars and trains even when Reed is not around; she'll shoot bad guys and pretend to play "pirates" and "ghosts" with the rest of us; but this girl is a GIRL!  She absolutely LOVES to dress up and is very opinionated about what she wears... already.  This is all new for me, (because Reed hates dressing up--even costumes at Halloween are difficult), and it's so fun!  We were so lucky to get some hand-me-downs from her cousin, Ellie, (thanks, Christi!) and Taryn had a blast demanding trying nearly every piece of clothing on.

 Notice she is wearing training underwear under the bathing suit.

 Switching tops

Need new pants too :)

Who knew I would have so much fun having a little girl!

Happy Valentine's Day

 Taryn and Reed checking out their new books and treats

Decorating sugar cookies

 And ending the night with a little dance party!

Sledding

I'm not gonna lie, my enthusiasm for sledding this winter has slowly diminished.  But when our good friends, the Farners invited us over to go, we just couldn't say no.

 Especially if AnneMarie is going to pull you around the yard.

 And you have a cute boy (Will) to snuggle next to.

 The babies got a little cold after our "trek" through the field to the sledding hill.

 Only to discover that the snow wasn't quite good enough for sledding.

But nothing can stop 2 four-year-old boys (Josh and Reed) from having a good time!

St. George trip...why don't we live there again??

So what is the best part about visiting our favorite friends, the Malufaus, in St. George?  

A special table just for those 4' and under

Finally some real dress-up clothes

 A dance party with the cutest little boy

Really, look at that face

A fellow princess who understands

 Someone to watch your favorite show with

 Being outside!

 Being outside AND getting pushed around by Daddy

 Learning the tricks of baseball

 Fun family hike in PERFECT weather

 Acting so strong...almost pushed it over, for reals.

 Sight-seeing

 Someone to take a family picture for you (since it rarely happens)

 River-jumping (and Porter river face-planting)

 Hugs from cute girls

Even though we spent a good part of the day like this (sick)...

We LOVED visiting our great friends!  Thank you Ammon, Cassidy, Scout, and Porter for such a fun time!  Sorry we brought the plague with us. :(  We love you guys!

Guess who's 2?!

Taryn turned 2 on January 4. We had a low-key birthday for her since we celebrated her half-birthday in the summer with Reed (never doing that again). We had my mom over for ice cream and she opened a tutu from us and a soon-to-be refinished rocking chair from my mom. That girl was as happy as a clam. I don't know what it is with girls, but as soon as she saw the tutu she wanted to put it on and immediately started dancing! I have no idea where that came from; certainly not me. It was so dang cute though. We sure do love this little, spunky girl. A few things about our princess:
-She is obsessed with her older brother. She copies his silly sounds and phrases and often yells for him when she wakes up in the morning.
-She loves "rough housing" with Daddy; but Mommy is still #1 (unless Grandma or Oma are around).
-Fitting in with the stereotype, she loves babies and anything small. She's great at playing pretend and there is always a mommmy, daddy, (and Reed and Taryn).
-She constantly is pretending to be a dog. She loves to be fed like a dog and will often crawl around barking and licking us.
-This girl is independent and persistent! She HAS to climb in the van by herself, close the door when we come inside, take off her shoes, wash her hands on her own, etc. and if not, she will easily throw a 20-30 min. tantrum. The girl knows what she wants.
-She loves to dance. And to my dismay, she was trying to copy the cheerleaders at a BYU basketball game.
-She prefers savory food over sweet (unless it is ice cream).
-She hates getting her hair combed/done. It's sad that although she has had hair since the day she was born, she's only sported a ponytail, side ponytail, and pigtails. Not that I know how to do hair anyway.
-She is incredibly demanding and particular. We had to take away her binky when she started requesting a specific color of binky in the middle of the night. She also has to sleep with 4 stuffed animals (bear, baby, dog, giraffe), a big blanket, small blanket, and pillow. I never thought I would be that parent.
-She likes to dress-up; but she also likes to play shooting games with Reed.
-She knows her colors and can count to 3. Wahoo! ;)
-She used to love watching Dora but now prefers Diego because Reed does. Lucky for him.
-She is still so dang cute and chubby. We love having a little girl around.