And so it ends...Year 6 as a Parent

Family,

And a good evening to you from the Queen City, where Team Taylor is wrapping up it's sixth (and
penultimate! More on that further down...) installment of Raise Kids With the Taylors.  Let's get amongst it, shall we?

3/1 - So we got an email from Ms. Pate today shortly before K arrived, telling us that K had scratched her eye.  At first I was afraid they were talking the actual cornea, but luckily it was just a surface scratch below it.  The good news (per Ms. Pate) - after 10 minutes of crying, she was back in the room laughing.  She even got some ice and a visit to the nurse's office. :-)

Granddaddy and Granny A came to visit for the weekend, and so we let the girls stay up later than normal to greet them and play with them.  It was a good (but quick) night, and since I had a 20 miler the next day, we all sacked out pretty early.

3/2 - Talk about an AWESOME day!  The weather was just incredible - we are talking high 60's!  After my run, dad and I hung out while the girls went to K's dance class.  Then it was Lunch at Southern Tier, followed by an EPIC afternoon over at OMB.  I mean, it felt like we were in Europe!  I had a blast with K, as we ran around and played quite a bit of corn hole.  She was loving all the doggies around, and then the funniest moment came - I went to the bathroom and came back to find both girls laying on their jackets in the gravel under the table (and dreaming presumably? :-)).  Too funny!  Alice had given them her phone, and they were flat mesmerized.  It was SO much fun - I can't wait to go back when the weather is better - and perhaps we'll even bring a few friends with us. :-)

The party continued back at the house, where we had pizza, ice cream cake, a fire, and plenty of presents for the Hoff.  We didn't get K in bed until probably 8:30, and it was close to 8 for Bear.  Amazing since it was a no nap day!

3/5 - So Kaitlyn was doing AMAZING handstands tonight - probably her best ever!  She is seeming to really enjoy gymnastics this go-around, which certainly makes me happy.  I am certainly planning to watch at least one more session, as I definitely want to see her in action again - especially if it's the final time.

Oh, and get this - K slept in really late today, and finally JT went up there to check on her.  She opens the door to find K CLEANING HER ROOM!  When she asked the reason, the quote was priceless:  "It has to be neat so I can tell when the leprechaun comes!  Otherwise, how will I know?"  I mean...are you KIDDING ME?!?!?!?!  Too funny..

Kaitlyn did showcase some yoga tonight, and it was impressive!  That girl pretty much knows all the moves I do, and it was really neat to hear her work through them!  She has a song she does with it - love Bradford!  She also has started doing those "girl hand slap rhyming" games.  Tonight she did something with Tic Tac Toe...three in a row...don't you shoot my astronaut....I mean, look - I'm just an old dude doing the best he can.  Don't judge me. :-)  She loved it (and kept repeating it, which was still far preferable to the previous night when she kept saying "Macaroni what the pants...").

On the Cora front, her pump knot is ALMOST gone - YAY!  You just wouldn't believe how talkative that girl is now.  It is AMAZING how quickly she's picking things up.  And get this - unprompted tonight, she counted to 10!  True, she missed a few numbers, but it was impressive!

In her "Terrible Two" phase at the moment, she is hilarious with her protests.  Currently she just likes to scream, "I'm not!" to rage against whatever command you've given or reproach you've just proffered.  When we ask what "I'm NOT" means, she simply repeats it, as well as occasionally running away.  Cute...

And remember Buddy who reads to her?  Well, Cora has been bringing him non-Leap Frog books and saying, "Buddy, read it."  Also, if she is behind looking at pages he is programmed for and gets to the last page after he's finished, she'll look at him and say, "Say it, Buddy!"  The poor thing appears destroyed when Buddy doesn't reply.  :-)

3/8 - Kaitlyn was a hand stand MACHINE tonight!  I mean, that girl was FULL VERTICAL!  It's crazy, but suddenly she has fallen back in love with gymnastics.  It's so cute!  She did so many handstands earlier in the week that her wrist was actually sore the next morning (JT said the same thing used to happen to her).

Tonight was a fun one, as we prepared "battle formations" for K's birthday sleepover!  We laid out sleeping bags and the air mattress in the bonus room, and as I type this, JT is wrapping presents and making the goody bags.  JT has been a WARRIOR in getting this party ready - pre-ordering tickets, selecting the cookie cake (and ice cream), balloons, presents, party favors, invites, creating the schedule - you name it.  She has been an absolute ROCK STAR!  K - remember this!  You are a very, VERY lucky little girl.

And I think it goes without saying, but K is OVER THE MOON excited about her sleepover tomorrow.

JT had life group today, and Cora got to play with all the other kids.  It was amazing - when I asked her about it this evening, she remembered ALL their names!  She is very cute now saying, "I don't know" when she really doesn't know.  Her favorite books at the moment are "Little Excavator" and "Big Red Barn."

And side note - can I say how cute K's hair is right now?  I am LOVING the little bob ponytail.  And I put Cora's hair in a ponytail last night in the bath, and she rightly said, "Ponytail."  Too cute!

3/9 - PARTY TIME!!!!!  Wow...talk about an EPIC day. We kicked this day off with some Starbucks for the adults and a movie for the girls:  "Tinkerbell and the Legend of the Neverbeast."  It was really cute, and dare I admit this - I actually CRIED at the end.  Seriously - I was locked on the screen and couldn't look away.  Full marks to Disney - I was a puddle.

It was then over to the Y, where the girls had fun in the play house before K went to dance class.  Then it was home for lunch and tablet time before the featured event of the evening - THE BIRTHDAY SLEEPOVER!!!!!  So here's the deal:  JT and I had priced out a lot of things and given K a lot of options.  Ultimately, she wanted to go to Defy Gravity, and so we told her that she needed to pick about 4 friends to go with her.  She selected Kate (obviously), Ellie (a new BFF from her class at BPS), Daisy, and Eden (the last 2 are also new friends from BPS).  All of them except Eden showed up at the house at 2, and from that point on we had a VERITABLE HURRICANE OF ACTIVITY.

The girls were SO excited - it was too cute!  It was Ellie's first sleepover, and she was over the moon. The girls were running around pretending to be "uni-kitties" (don't ask), and they were screaming louder than a playoff game at Arrowhead.  My first thought was "set out the Ibuprofen for later..."

We did cake (cookie cake) and ice cream (birthday cake flavored), and the girls played a bit more before we packed up and drove over to Defy Gravity.  WOW - HOLY BEDLAM, BATMAN!!!!!!  This place was a MADHOUSE, but the girls LOVED IT!  It's so funny - we had booked for only a single hour, and I asked JT if we needed two.  She said, "Trust me - we do NOT need more than an hour."  Sure enough - she was right (and then some!).  By 4:55, I saw them all sitting on the couch EXHAUSTED from the exertion.  They ran up walls, did ziplines, did trampolines, jumped into foam pits...you name it!  Cora even got in on the action - too cute!  They all had a BLAST - even if every single one of them managed to get injured at one point or another.  K actually cried 3 times in the hour she was there (and three more times during the course of the sleepover).

What was funny - when we woke Cora up to leave for DG, she remembered where we were going.  She yelled "I coming!"  She was SO EXCITED to hang out with the big girls, and they were actually GREAT about talking to her and playing with her the whole time at the house - it was really sweet!

It was then home for pizza, a movie (My Little Pony), more playing, and popcorn (a mixture of Kettle and microwave) before the girls sacked out at 8:52 PM.  They all slept in the bonus room, laying sideways on the air mattress.  Adorable!  Honestly - watching them get ready for bed was just too cute.

And the best news - they slept until 5:49, which was 6:49 when you account for daylight savings time.  RE-SULT!  That being said, they all woke up tired, and not even Lucky Charms could pump enough sugar in them to keep them moving.  K was teetering all morning, but she rallied after church.  Her and JT had a mommy-daughter Birthday afternoon, where they hit Panera for lunch, followed by bouncing on the trampolines at Concord Mills, then visiting the Aquarium a final time, followed by cashing in a gift card at the Disney store.  It was then home to make "Leprechaun Rocks" for school before watching one of our gifts to K:  "How to Train Your Dragon" (volumes 1 and 2 came together in a set).

3/10 - So today was another great one for K, as the birthday festivities just kept on rolling. :-)  As I mentioned, they were up about 7 thanks to springing forward, and what followed as a round of Lucky Charms and breakfast, followed by quite a bit of playing around in the front rooms.  The girls were super cute and played great together, but you could tell they were tired!  We found out from Daisy's mom (she didn't stay the night since she's a young 5) that she fell asleep as soon as she got in the car!

The girls didn't want to leave (they got quiet when their moms came), but soon enough we said our farewells and then headed to church.  Kaitlyn cried a bit (largely due to exhaustion, but we've since realized she was probably fighting something as well) in the morning (which marked the 6th time she'd cried in 24 hours, for the record), but by the time church was over, she was gangbusters and ready for another EPIC day - this time with her mommy!

Man, did they have a blast.  First up was Panera, where they ate Mac 'n Cheese (K says no place does it better) before heading over to Concord Mills, where they PACKED IT IN!  First up was the trampoline, which K absolutely LOVED (they just give you 9 min, so it goes quickly).  Then it was over to the aquarium for a farewell tour (our pass expires on 3/15, and we're not planning to renew at this time.  Cora loves it, but we have plenty else to keep her busy.  As for K, she seems to have largely aged out of it, as all she wants to do at this point is look at the octopus and then head out to the gift shop. :-)).

As fate would have it, she did hit the gift shop, where she selected her final present from us:  a baby harpoon seal (which she named Sealy).  She had been looking at it every time she'd been in there, so we felt this was a great way to say farewell to the aquarium.

It was then over to the Disney store, where both her and Kaitlyn got a new animal (an Aristocat for Bear, Angel from Lilo & Stitch 2 for K).  It was then home for the final bit of the day - making Leprechaun rocks!  Again, I have NO IDEA when St. Patty's Day became anything other than a drinking holiday, but here we are... :-)

K was GREAT helping JT with the rocks (it's a class activity at BPS), and after that the girls started watching "How to Train Your Dragon."  Given K's love of Dragons:  Race to the Edge, we figured she would like it (and she did!).  I was very pleased with that purchase.

We sacked out a little later than normal that night, another great weekend in the books.  And just think - we still hadn't hit K's actual birthday!  And in case you were wondering, Bear was AWESOME throughout this whole thing.  She just kept saying, "Happy...Birthday...Yaya" over and over.  Oh, and she actually said Kaitlyn the other day!  Personally I hope she keeps saying Yaya, as I absolutely love that.

3/11 - HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MUNCH MUNCH!!!!!  YOU ARE 6 YEARS OLD!!!!!  HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE?!?!?!?!?  1/3 OF YOUR TIME UNDER ROOF AT OUR HOUSE IS OVER!!!!!!  Say it ain't so!!!!!

K came downstairs, and I said, "You are 6!  That is unbelievable!  How do you feel?"  She replied, "I see Vol Nana today - seeing Vol Nana is better than turning 6."  :-)

The day went by quickly given that it was a school day, but we did get to meet K at BPS for lunch (she wanted nothing to do with me - just wanted to sit with her friends! :-)).  Mom (aka Vol Nana) arrived about 2:30, and so she went with K to gymnastics.  It worked out great, as she was able to watch K, read to Bear, and relax a bit while JT went and got gas for the X.  Jackpot!

We had Chik-fil-A at the house for a birthday dinner, and then K got to open her presents.  Mom made this Super Cute 6 with lots of cupcakes, and we took several of those down like it was our job. :-)  I will say, it is amazing how much more sugar Bear has received in her first 26 months of life vs. TT.  I mean, we were MILITANT with K, but the reality is that we just can't (or won't) deny it to Bear if everyone else is getting it.  We at least give her substantially less than others, but MAN - that girl is ALL ABOUT SOME SUGAR.

Bed time that night was well past 8, but K was a reading machine, and Vol Nana was blown away.  It was too funny, as the girls were already arguing about who got to read with Vol Nana at the end of the night.  Priceless!  Oh, and did I mention that K was able to read all of her cards?  AMAZING!  It was really, really neat to see.  Well done, Ms. Pate and BPS! :-)

So there you have it - Year 6 as a parent in the books.  Every day is an adventure, every day is a voyage of discovery, and every day is a good and perfect gift from our Creator above.  I am SO SO SO thankful to be on this journey with my soulmate and two have a pair of beautiful, sweet, wonderful little girls.

And so everyone knows - Jenny and I have chatted about it, and next year will be the last year for the blog.  Plans could change, of course, but the reality is that it's getting really tough to find the time anymore, and I think we might (likely will) end up cutting this out.  I am moving to monthly video messages for the girls and am working to do a lot more video and photo documentation of their lives. The work will live on in the cloud, noted by time and date (which I use every day when I go through "memories from this day" on Amazon Photos).

Seven is the number of perfection in the Bible, and next year will be the seventh volume of this journey.  It will include Bear starting pre-school, K starting 1st grade, lots of trips (including Disney), and innumerable memories that I can't wait to record.  I look forward to documenting it all and finishing with a flourish!

That's all the news to print - love you all!!!

Love,

Sam, Jenny, Kaitlyn, and Cora