Taylor Highlight Reel Numero Dos

Kennedy has been enjoying swim lessons for the past three weeks at Asbury College. Their swim team is really good and some of the swimmers teach the camps. The teacher:student ratio is waaaayyy better than what we've had at the Y so she's been getting LOTS of pool time and she's loving it. This week will be her last week and I know she'll be sad but she has learned so much...just in time for our upcoming trip to the beach!

Kennedy and Lily poolside

Look at my big swimmer! So brave!

This past weekend we had some visitors in the Taylor house: Chelsea and her new furry friend Dewey the Goldendoodle. It was SOOOO good to see Chels (as always) and we loved getting to know Dewey too..who doesn't love a puppy?

Isn't he precious?

We Kennedy wore him out good every day!

Chelsea had mailed these sweet matching outfits a while back and the girls wore them while she was here so she could witness the cuteness.

Laura took this picture of me and my sweet Avery at swim while "big sister" was in the water.

Look at that mug!

Sara Beth came over for a play date while Chelsea was here. It was so good visiting. I can't believe they both used to babysit for me and now we are all good friends and one has a kid of her own. Oh my! Here are our sweet babies Ruthie & Avery:

I am so glad that I convinced Elizabeth to come over that day too because all the kids had a big time and we adults just sat on the patio and visited. Props to Elizabeth for venturing out with not one...not two...but all three of her boys!

I bathed Avery in the sink last week while Mom bathed Kennedy in the tub. She looked too cute with her strategically placed rag not to take a picture.

Chelsea is part of the family and just fits right in and rolls with the punches. Kennedy ADORES time with her (as do I). I'm sure Avery will love her just as much as her big sister does.

We got to go out for a fun girls night (thanks to Tim for keeping the babies) to celebrate Courtney's birthday. It was such a good time! Tammy came in from Louisville to surprise Courtney and surprised she was. ;)

I put aside some of the strawberries I had picked at Boyd's just to make this cake. I made it last year for Courtney's birthday and it was so amazing I figured I'd make it again this year for Chelsea's visit and for Tim's birthday too. It was just as delicious the second time around.

Courtney was clearly jazzed about it's reappearance. 

A friend of mine from college (Jentrie) sent me these cute matching dresses for Kennedy and Avery. We snapped some pictures before church on Father's Day Sunday.

If there is anything I can brag on my man about...it is his Daddy skills. He loves his girls and I couldn't ask for a better Father for them. Our power went out at church the morning of Fathers Day. Instead of it ruining the service it gave it a really intimate feel and I loved it. It was really special with the acoustic instruments and singing and I was just thankful to be there. 

Me and my girls.

Check this little cheeser out. She's such a sweet thing...smiling all the time.

I'm officially caught up...in pictures anyway. Hopefully there's no more 50 + picture highlight reels in our near future. Maybe I can get back on the blogging bandwagon. We had our cable disconnected and adjusting to life with a much slower Internet connection has been quite interesting! Thank heavens we can run WIFI off my smart phone..these things are amazing! Now...if they would just cook and clean EVERYONE would own them.

Taylor Highlight Reel Numero Uno

Because I'm so far behind on my blogging due to a crazy hectic schedule as of late - I figured I'd pump out what I'm referring to as a highlight reel because it's just gonna document the highlights...in none other than photo form! I know you faithful followers are wondering where I've been and no worries Mom...I'm right here. ;)

Let's begin with strawberry picking...shall we? Okay then...meet my friend A and her daughter A. Aren't they precious? A is expecting another and despite that, she came out in the heat and got down on her knees and picked strawberries with us. We had such a good time. God crossed mine and A's paths in a very quirky albeit intentional way and I couldn't be happier about it. We have tons in common and I feel so blessed to know her and call her friend. Here we are with our girls outside of Boyd's Orchard.

Praise all that is holy in this universe...Kennedy was way more into the actual picking process this year rather than whining and complaining about how it was hot and how she wanted to play on the Boyd's play equipment. I'm also glad to report that we had much less smushed and brown berries in our basket...she grasped the concept that she was to pick them off the bush...not just grab whatever was closest and most convenient. We've grown a great deal in a year...see for yourself. Time really is flying...Tim and I couldn't believe the difference in a year when we looked back at that post.

Just as A and I thought - these girls were fast friends. I hope there are a great deal more play dates orchestrated for the pair in the future!

Thanks for joining us girls ~ we had such a wonderful time!

Avery turned 16 weeks today but a couple of weeks ago we received her 12 week photos back from Jes. They turned out wonderfully as usual. Here are some of my favorites:

The little dress is a gift that was given to my eldest niece Catherine by my sister Melissa. I've always thought it was really pretty and different so that is what I chose to put her in. Isn't it cute?

This hat (which I love) was given to Avery from my Aunt Kay and I was super excited to get some pictures in it. Avery, on the other hand...not so thrilled. Jes had to be quick!

Call me Southern or girlie or what have you, but I LOVE a bloomer. These were like $10 off Zulily. Sweet!

Not this past weekend but the one prior, our church had a 5K to raise money for some upcoming missions work in Joplin and in Honduras. Since Courtney and I had been running, I figured it was a great way for me to get back into the swing of things and donate to a great cause while we were at it. Jes and Billie joined us too.

Kennedy has always been quite intrigued with me running and on occasion expresses interest in coming with me. Since I knew it would be a relatively small run I told her I'd push her in the jogger if she wanted to go. She said she wanted to run it herself. Well...clearly that needed some explaining and ultimately we compromised by deciding I would push her and she could run at the end. Here we all are in the beginning...this was when I could form a complete sentence and breath. Kennedy made sure to tell me about .25 miles into the 3.2 mile run: "Mommy, we aren't winning". Yikes...the competitiveness begins.

Kennedy's time to shine. She kept telling me her legs were getting tired but let me just tell you that when the sweet folks on the side started cheering for her she caught her second wind and practically sprinted to the finish. Yeah....she's totally my kid!

Oh yeah...eye on the prize!

So..our first of what I hope will be many Mother/Daughter runs.

Courtney, Billie, and Jes. Thanks so much for supporting my church girls! So fun running with y'all. Props to Billie who is preggers (though you can't tell) and Jes who rode a bike from Nicholasville to Wilmore before running the 5K. Y'all are rockstars! Court - you already know you are a rockstar without me telling you. ;)

The best part of the race was that no female under the age of 12 ran in the race, so by default (and because it's our church and the awards thing was super relaxed) Kennedy won her age division. Ha! She got a medal. Although she was all shy with the group photo she was totally stoked and has shown it to everyone who has come over since hte race. So funny. 

My little award winner:

The Sunday following the race I gave Tim an early birthday present:

We've had the trailer for a while, but it doesn't fit correctly on my road bike so we don't get to use it much. Hopefully now that I found him a bike, we will get to use it and go out as a family on bike rides. His Mom came in on this particular Sunday so that we could try out the new Legacy Trail here in Lexington. It was an awesome trail and we had such a good time. We even stopped and took some time for a picnic along the side of the trail. It was really nice.

*So...bike helmets: they aren't really condusive to a pony tail per se. I decided to try some braids as a way to keep my hair off of me while not giving me a major headache. Well, when Kennedy came in the bathroom while I was braiding it she looked at me as if I'd turned into a Disney Princess and said (in a really drawn out fashion) "Woooowwww Mommy...what are you doing to your hair?!" Ha! It's the little things....

Note to self: when you're hauling a 32 lb. toddler...be sure to pump up the trailer tires BEFORE the ride and not after. Poor Tim...despite liking his bike it was a bit of a challenging ride. We'll be sure to be prepared next time.

I hope next time comes really soon!

I'm so not even close to being caught up! Stay tuned for Taylor Highlight Reel Numero Dos.

Sisterly Love

This post is entirely made up of photos of my girls. I'm trying to do better about taking pictures of them but oh my word it's hard because life is flying by at an incredible rate these days and half the time the camera is not on my mind (shocking, I know!)

I took these first few pictures before church last week. Chelsea bought them these precious matching dresses and I really wanted their picture in them. I'm pretty sure Kennedy only sat still because she wanted the christening of her jelly shoes to be documented in some way. Seriously - she's OBSESSED with them and was OVER THE TOP excited about wearing them for the first time last Sunday. She's pretty much asked me every day since if she can wear them. They are cute - I cannot lie, however, there's the whole it's hot and she's barefoot + jelly shoe material action = sweat and smell and ew - you follow me? So..I must limit the wear time on those bad boys.

My sweet little Avery is growing so fast that I actually had to pack away some newborn clothes (insert audible awwww, sniff, sniff here). I can't believe she's three months old already....wear is the time going? I want it to stop already. Anyhow - while I packed away the clothes there were some seriously precious interaction between the girls going on so I grabbed the camera:

You would think the next picture is all motherly and sweet and it is, but mostly Kennedy is my daughter and is totally grossed out by spit-up. It is gross, but let's face it: spit happens!

I've been trying to be more intentional about getting Avery on her belly for some tummy time. She pretty much isn't fond of it and because she has reflux there is a narrow window in which  to make it happen, however I'm trying and now that she is grabbing things, she's a bit more open to the whole idea:

Um, can we talk about the ruffle please?

Kennedy was running around the room "mothering" all of her babies while I finished the clothes swapping. Out of like 10 pictures, she's blurred in each of them because THE CHILD NEVER STOPS MOVING.......OR TALKING FOR THAT MATTER. She was talking to her babies just like I talk to Avery...such the sponge.

We got out the Bumbo seat last week too but she's still a bit small for it. Her expression is funny. "Mom...whats the deal here?!?"

Tim's Mom was in last week to help take Kennedy to her little swim camp on the days that I had to work. She kept both girls all week too so we could take advantage of some vacation days at daycare. Because the girls are in our spare rooms it doesn't leave much room for guests. Kennedy has been sleeping on a little bed on the floor in Avery's room so Mom can have her bed while she's here. Kennedy actually really likes sleeping in there surprisingly and the two of them sharing a room for the week went better than I thought it would. Here they are getting some snuggles on Kennedy's bed.

So much else has been going on around here lately:

*I got Avery's 12 week photos back from Jes @ Jes Meeker Photography & they are awesome!

*We went strawberry picking at Boyd's Orchard last weekend with some friends.

*We started hosting a small group from church and the first meeting was last week.

*I ran my first (post-Avery's birth) 5K on Saturday to benefit missions at our church & Kennedy ran some of it too.

*Today, Tim got the first of his birthday presents - a bike. We biked a new trail in Lexington called the Legacy trail with Kennedy in the bike trailer and even stopped to have a picnic: so fun!

Sadly I can't seem to find time to blog about any of the above but hopefully I will be able to soon because I actually have pictures of most of it. Like I said...I'm trying.