Happy Birthday Tailee

Here is a video of us singing Happy Birthday to you for the first time:)

Happy 1st Birthday Tai Tai

Happy 1st Birthday, Tai Tai....We love you so much!...I can't believe how fast this last year has gone. You are such sweet loving little girl and I look forward every day to pick you up out of your crib...You aren't walking yet but you are so close...You will try and take a few steps but then you crawl...You do do this cute little scoot while kneeling on one leg...You are a binky girl...you love your binky! You also have a blanket that is your favorite and you will not sleep without it....You are very clingy and love your mom and dad...You always want to be near us. You have a favorite drawer in the kitchen where we keep all of our towels and you love to get into that drawer and throw the towels around.....You laugh all the time and it is the cutest laugh. I love your spunky little attitude. If you don't like something, we know it:)...You will wave "hi" and "bye"...You love to eat...you can eat so much:)...You click your tongue...We take you swimming a lot and you love the water...we can even put you under the water and you don't get scared. You are such a joy in our life Baby Tai Tai...I can't imagine not having you...I love you so so much!

Halloween 2010

This year for Halloween your sister wanted to be Princess Tiana, from "The Princess and the Frog"...so you of course were the frog...and what a cute frog you were:)...Caden was an oompa loompa and I made the outfit all myself...oh and I made your whole outfit myself as well:)

Family Pictures 2010

We have been meaning to get these family pictures done all year and we finally did it...You were so good and smiled so well...Everyone thought that you were sooooo cute:)

Finalization Day!

Tai,

A few days ago we headed back to Kansas City, MO to finalize your adoption. Eventhough we have had you for the last 6 months and you have been part of the family since the day we heard you were coming to our family, it still wasn't official. These last 6 months have gone by so fast. I can't believe how fast you are growing up and just what a beautiful girl you are becoming. Well I shouldn't say I can't believe it, your birthmother was very pretty as well, so of course you would be:). You have the most happiest disposition. We flew out to Missouri and you were sooooo good on all of the flights. You didn't cry even once. Then we had to do a lot of driving and again you were as content as can be. I just feel so lucky every day for having you in my life, but if you were a hard baby I'd still love you just the same:). I added some pictures of the last few weeks that I took when we all went four wheeling, and the others are all from our trip to Kansas City. We flew in on Thursday and went to your Uncle Bob's house. They were all so amazed to see how you had grown in the last 6 months and they raved on how pretty you were. Then on Friday we woke up and drove to Liberty, MO where we went to court and officially made you a Followell. There was another girl who was 10 years old who was also officially being adopted that day. Her name was Ariet and she was very beautiful and she was so happy that day to belong to a forever family. Next we went to Ruby Tuesdays and celebrated your finalization, just before we flew back home. It was a quick weekend but very VERY special. We love you Tailee:)

April Happenings

Tai,

We had so much going on in April. We had to travel every weekend. You are the best little traveler. Once we are in the car you sleep almost the entire way. There is never a peep out of you. We love taking you places. In April we went to Denver to Casa Bonita and to the Denver Museum of Natural History. We spent the day with Nana and Grandpa Followell and the rest of daddy's family. It was a lot of fun and everyone just thought you were so beautiful. We really can't go anywhere without being told how stunningly beautiful you are. Here are some

pictures of the weekend and one when we went bowling as a family. We love you so much, Tai Tai!

She's ours:) Spread the word

Tai,
So when we went to Missouri to get you, as you remember, we weren't sure if we were actually going to be coming home with you. I spent many tearful hours on the phone with your Muuma. After we finally went in to meet with the judge because the adoption had been approved to continue, I wrote a text to Muuma. She sent it to me the other day, because she thought it would be special for me to have, and it was. It said, "She's ours:) Spread the word". I thought you too might think that was special to have.

Mommy and Tai

For some reason I clicked to rotate this picture counter clockwise and it still didn't work. Oh well you might have to turn your head for a little bit to get a good look. The other night your dad and brother and sister ran to the store for a bit so I decided to take some pictures of us with my camera phone. I just like taking pictures of me and my baby girl Tai Tai.

Thermopolis Trip 2010

So every year we try to make it to Thermopolis, WY. It is a hot springs park and they have different pools that are all filled with, well, hot springs. The water is so warm and so it's fun to swim outside no matter how cold it is. We got a little floatie for you and you loved it. Not once did you cry to get out. You just layed back and floated around with us and enjoyed the ride. You were so comfortable that you even fell asleep in it. That was one of the cutest things I have seen.

Gerber Baby:)

Tailee,

You are such a beautiful baby. Both you and your sister, Kadrie, have been the prettiest babies I have ever seen. You are so photogenic and you LOVE to smile. Even at strangers you can't seem to hold them back. It's so obvious what a happy and easy going disposition you have. I can't wait to see what you will become. The other day after you got done eating, your dad and I were taking pictures of you to get you to smile. The first one on this post is our favorite. Seriously, I think you should be a Gerber baby model. Anywhere we go people always oooo and ah over what a pretty baby you are. I don't think there is a time where I have ever been out with you where at least one person didn't make a fuss. I love it!

Tai Tai's First Spoon Feeding:)

A few weeks ago you turned 4 months. Where has the time gone? I can't believe you are already that old. I even had to put away your 0-3 month clothes and bring out your 3-6 month ones. It feels like overnight you went from being a baby baby to being this baby that is always looking around, trying to sit up, grabbing at everything (especially your sisters hair), smiling and giggling. Yes, giggling, and it is the cutest giggle. I'll have to video tape it and post that. You are such a great baby and we love you soooooo much. Your dad and I were talking the other day about how fun it is just to sit and watch you smile. You have been sleeping through the night since you were 5 weeks old, and I don't just mean 6 hours, you sleep for like 12 hours. These pictures are of us feeding you your first solids, which was bananas. You weren't quite sure what to do and I think most of it ended up on your bib, but now it's been a couple of weeks and you have finally got it. We have only fed you applesauce and bananas but you love them and it's obvious how much you like real food. Any time we eat in front of you, you make grunting noises and reach for it with your eyebrows raised. It's so cute. Oh I almost forgot to mention, you can also hold your own bottle. I'm sorry, I may seem like a bragging mom and I might be a bit biased but I think that shows how freakin smart you are. Your dad and I always talk about how smart we think you are. You really are a blessing from our Heavenly Father:)!

Baby Tai Tai

Our baby Tai Tai. That seems to be the nickname that has stuck with our entire family. Your brother and sister both call you that. As I said previously, you are amazingly advanced for your age and very strong. The first picture was taken when you were about 8 weeks old. You can completely hold your head up and push up when you are on your stomach. The next picture is of you when you were 11 weeks. We had made you a bottle and you were so excited you literally grabbed the bottle and seriously held it the whole time you were feeding. We did help you keep it up but still you are just amazing:)! You are very strong. When you are in our laps you constantly try to sit up. Lately, you have even started giggling and you are always making noise. I know you are going to be a talker. I can tell by your sweet personality what a wonderful person you are going to be. You have such a sweet spirit and everyone wants to be around you. I also can't go anywhere without being stopped and told what a gorgeous baby we have. You really are stunningly beautiful. Just some other things you should know. You are the easiest baby I think there ever was. My friend, Nanette, jokes with me that I have a doll not a baby. You rarely cry and if you do it's only because you are either hungry, tired, or in need of a diaper change. Other than that you are happy just to be observing. One thing your daddy and I were not looking forward to were the sleepless nights, but you surprised us there. You go to bed everynight at about 9pm and you sleep until 6am and then you eat again. If it is a Saturday, you will go back to bed and sleep til about 10am. It's great and I love bragging about this to all my friends who have babies your age. You are a wonderful baby and we love you!

Smiley Tailee

Smiley Tailee is what we call you. I can't tell you how fun it is to have a baby that smiles as much as you do. You really are such an amazing baby and very advanced for your age. You started smiling at 5 weeks of age. At first it took a bit of work, making faces and such, to get you to smile, but now you smile the second you see anyone. It is so fun after being at work to come home and see you and be greeted with a huge smile. Your daddy can't get enough of your beautiful smile. He is always doing something to cause a smile on your beautiful face. Oh and your smiles aren't small, the encompass your entire face. You are such a beautiful and happy baby and we are so glad you are ours!