The Stray

So for those of you who think Shae hates animals and has OCD about touching them, well here's a story for you. We have three adorable kittens living under my parent's sun room. Their mom is still with them even though they are probably about 10 weeks old. We have been feeding them and so have our neighbors on both sides of us. We have been trying to catch the kittens for the past 2 weeks so we could give them to good homes. They are sooooo fast so we thought it might just be an impossible task. However, tonight we finally caught "Boots". And who was the FIRST one out there holding him trying to calm him down? SHAE!!! He scooped him up and held him like a little baby. He kept him in his arms for probably a good 10 minutes before he gave all of us a turn. I couldn't believe my eyes. My hopes of getting an animal when we have our own place have gone way up!

We tried giving him ham and cat food but he was too scared to even sniff it.

Awww...Shae's gentle touch

My mom wanted a turn cuddling with him too.

Rhaegan is a natural when it comes to loving animals. Boots finally calmed down after a little while. He is the cutest little thing.

Hair Day

When I was little my mom would put my hair in these exact rollers for church and picture days. When I found them I thought I would see how Marlee like looking "fancy." Rhaegan had already had her hair curled several times with rollers so she was a pro. Marlee's hair has gotten so long I thought it would be a perfect time to attempt a little styling.

She was such a trooper. She didn't move once (probably out of confusion and fear).

Rhaegan was so proud of Marlee's hair and how well she was cooperating.

Well...maybe she didn't enjoy it so much. This face tells it all. There isn't an after picture because my camera died and her hair doesn't keep curls at all. It was a fun experience (for me) at least. I love having girls!!

Post Easter Fun

We had a great Easter this year. The girls had a blast with egg hunts, wearing new dresses and of course receiving their Easter baskets from the Easter bunny. It was nice to be able to celebrate with Grandma and Papa Cupps this year as well. Our festivities started the weekend before Easter with a egg hunt in the house (because it was completely flooded in the backyard). Aunt Krista and I hid probably 200 eggs all around the house and then sent Marlee and Rhaegan hunting. Of course Rhaegan found the most because Marlee was to worried about opening each one to see what was inside.

It took them about 20 minutes to hid almost all of them and then the fun really started: dumping out what was inside!

Easter morning was next. Rhaegan had a wish list for the Easter bunny which she made sure I gave to him so he wouldn't forget anything. Marlee just wanted gum.

The Easter bunny was very generous this year and didn't miss a thing on the list. Best of all was the movie "Tangled" which they have watched about 25 times (no exaggeration)

It was a great Easter!!

Happy Birthday, Shae

Happy Birthday, Shae! We love you! We hope you have a great day!

DC

For Rhaegan's spring break we decided to head back over to D.C. to visit Grandma and Papa Taylor. We have really missed seeing them. Rhaegan and Marlee were so excited to see them they had a hard time waiting the 8 hours it took to get there. As long as there's a movie playing the girls do pretty well. Once we arrived, we spent 5 days staying extremely busy, seeing so many fun and exciting things. We had gone there over Thanksgiving but didn't get to see a lot of the sites of DC.
Our first stop was of course the Temple which is one of the most beautiful Temples on earth. Rhaegan, especially, loved walking around the temple listening to Papa explain the different things about the beautiful "castle"

We of course had to go to the zoo. Not once but twice. Marlee wouldn't sit by the gorilla. She thought he was too scary.

Rhaegan really wanted to ride a train so what better "train" to ride than the Metro.
The escalator heading down to the train was unbelievably long.

All Aboard!

And of course the Museum of Natural history was a must. I love this place especially because it's FREE!!

And finally the White House. We didn't get to see it when we were there over thanksgiving so we had to take a quick photo this time around. It was a bummer how far away from it you have to be now.

Dinner at Fuddruckers to end a long day in the city was perfect. The food was so good and we were able to spend time with one of Shae's best friends, Dave who was in town for a couple days

It was a great trip and we hated leaving. Thanks, Grandma and Papa for everything.

Party Time

I knew there was a reason I loved this age (minus all the "terrible two" nonsense). Marlee made turning two seem like the most magical experience of ones life. She didn't stop smiling throughout the whole party and enjoyed having her little friends there to celebrate with her. Marlee has grown to love Mickey Mouse Clubhouse so I thought why not have a Minnie Mouse birthday party. She actually asked for a Goofy cake but Minnie was a whole lot easier to make.

Making birthday cakes has become one for my favorite things about being a mom (among many others).

Suzi and Kester were of course among the guest which made Marlee's day. She LOVES Kester and Suzi and is constantly asking about them

The adorable little "Minnie Mouses"

And of course 2 more candles to blow out. Luckily she didn't try to play with the fire. It was definitely something I thought she would do.

Thanks everyone for coming and celebrating this day with us. We had a great time.

She's 2

Well, she's 2! My little lady is two years old. Where has time gone? She is the most energetic little thing. She never misses a beat. She is talking up a storm and loves to "explore" usually getting into things which are off limits. Time-out doesn't work on her at all, in fact she likes it and often puts herself in it. She hates kisses and will immediately wipe them off. She is addicted to gum and pop. She asked for one or both at least 4 times a day. We love her sweet personality and can't believe she's already two.

Birthday morning.
Tigger is always dressed (diaper included) and ready for each new day

Birthday Lunch at the one and only McDonald's

She's my little batter-eater. We celebrated on Wednesday (her actual b-day) with cupcakes and presents from family. Uncle Nick came over to celebrate with us.

She loved blowing out her candles

And eating her cupcake, of course

She loved all her present especially the phone she got from Aunt Krista. She had recorded a message on it so when Marlee opened it she pressed play and heard auntie Krista talking. She thought she was really on the phone though so for the next 10 minutes she walked around talking to Krista and waiting for a response which never came. It was hilarious.

Birthday Party pictures to come...