Taya's first family vacation (and plane ride!)

Taya two weeks ago with her daddy


Taya getting ready to get on her first plane


On the plane...

In her seat, ready to go!


In front of Jarv's rododendrons


It was bright outside.




Hanging out at the beach house

At Mystic Pizza with our cousins
Clockwise from top: Taya, me, Laila, Bader, George, Nina-Katherine, Jenny, Giada (the other baby)

Neither of us has seen the movie, but here we are at Mystic Pizza in Mystic, CT

At the Mystic Aquarium

Jenny, Bader, and the kids watching some animals at the aquarium

Taya with her Grammy and mommy at Fenwick (Old Saybrook, CT)
Taya's frist trip to the beach (Atlantic Ocean)

A cute picture of Taya from this week. She will be 10 months old in 5 days!

A clip of Taya's frist trip to the beach

Well, as you can see we went on vacation last week. If I look tired, it's because I am!! Taya was a trooper and did AWESOME on the plane, but being away from home and off our usual schedule is rough on me. We had a nice time. We spent most of the time with my mom and Jarv but also saw Ethan's cousin Jenny and her family. Ethan also golfed almost every day. We are now back at home and getting back into our usual routine. Ethan is leaving on Wednesday for a conference at Estes Park, CO so we are trying to get things settled before he goes. On the plus side, my mom is coming to help me so we're going to have a "girls weekend" and watch chick flicks. I am excited!

I hope you enjoy the pictures and the clip of Taya at the beach.

First Mother's Day and Taya growing up

I had a very blessed Mother's day and was treated very special! I got a corsage to wear to church, a necklace, some GAP pants I had been wanting, and we went out to eat breakfast at our fave-Farmhouse Cafe!! I even got a short nap :).
Taya's newest thing is pulling herself up. Ethan bought her a shopping cart a while ago so she likes to stand up and throw stuff out of it. Right now we have it anchored against both the couch and loveseat, but eventually she will be able to start walking with it.
The other night she went shopping "commando" :)

Shopping with her jammies on.

Some day, she will kill us.

My very cute baby and handsome husband. I could haven't have picked a better family!! God has definitely blessed me!!

They took me to the zoo!

Two weeks ago we took Taya to the zoo for the first time. We ended up buying a family pass this year so we hope to take our little curious baby there quite often. We saw the penquins, peacocks, lots of fish and marine life in the aquarium, the big lions/tigers/pumas/etc. in the cat house, and finally a polar bear. It was a little damp outside so we made it a quick trip.

Later that week, my grandma Cena and aunt Jen stopped on their way through town. Taya was happy to have company and I think she entertained her guests quite well. I also took the opportunity for a 'mental health day' and got a massage after seeing the chiropractor.

Last weekend we traveled up to Wayne for Taya's first trip to "camp". I took a two hour nap, Nima bossed some steers, Ethan and Les played horseshoes, and grandma Debbie got some quality time with Taya.

Taya turned 9 months old on Wednesday. These past 9 months went by much faster than the 9 months of pregnancy. She does something new every day it seems. She started crawling last Saturday. She had gotten good at going backward, but she is going forward now non-stop!! We are taking swimming lessons again and she is leaps and bounds farther along than when we first started in January. She is a good kicker and splasher and she loves the water! Taya says "momomom" when she sees me and is getting "dadadada" down.

She weighs 19 lbs 10 oz and is 27.5 inches long

Her smile and laugh makes a whole long day of work fade from memory at the end of the day.

Last night Ethan and I went to a Kenny Chesney concert (also there were Lady Antebellum and Miranda Lambert). We also went out to eat. It is the first time we have been out together, by ourselves, since Taya's birth. Grandpa Les and Grandma Debbie came to babysit and spend the night! Here is what we walked in on at 11:30 p.m.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to all of the mothers I know and love!!!

Spring is here!

We have taken Taya's exersaucer outside for her to play in. They also have one at daycare they take outside. She loves it!

Taya got a new sun hat a few weeks ago. Her daddy picked it out. She likes to wear it some of the time, and when she doesn't, she rips it off. They said at daycare she is good at wearing it except in the big swing, then she throws it off. She loves swinging.

Here is one shot of Taya in her Easter dress. Her Grammy got her a beautiful dress. The pictures from my camera aren't the best but we haven't downloaded the ones off the other camera yet (coming soon, I hope).

We attempted a family photo on Easter Sunday. It was chilly and Taya and Nima didn't want to look at the camera. This is the best one off my camera.

Taya got this cute shirt with a giraffe on it from her Omi and Papa. She has already worn it since the weather has been nice :)

We have been busy; sorry we haven't posted in quite some time. We had a wonderful Easter and love the nice spring weather. Ethan has been working hard in the yard and we hope to get some flowers planted in the next few weeks.

Taya continues to grow and if it's possible, gets cuter every day!! She is still trying to crawl and is mastering going backward. She has even gotten up on her hand and toes (like a bearcrawl). She enjoys singing games and music. She jabbers all the time and giggles and laughs often.

Happy Spring!

Happy 8th Month Birthday to Taya!

These are just a few recent images.

Mom left the bowl too close...


Taya got some time with her huge stuffed giraffe.

More breakfast mess pictures.

Look closely and you can make out some teeth, these are the only ones so far...

This is a video of her moving around a little, sorry we don't have any video of her on her hands and knees yet.

Update

Here are a few pictures I took of Taya on Saturday. I was trying to get a shot of her two new teeth, but she is good at "hiding" them behind her big, beautiful smile.

I LOVE MY GIRL!!

Has it really been this long?

We at the Mann house have been busy! You have probably guessed that since it has been over a month since we last blogged. It is not for a lack of wanting to brag about our sweet daughter!
Taya is showing many developmental milestones like
-sitting up by herself
-getting up on all fours and rocking (resembles an attempt to crawl)
-getting 2 teeth (bottom front)
-drinking out of a tippy cup

She is a very social, talkative girl. She gets a huge smile on her face when we go into daycare because she loves seeing her friends. According to the girls that work there, she and one of the little boys (Christian) tend to have their own shouting match/conversation as they both play in the exersaucers. Taya has her own exersaucer and she LOVES it!!

Ethan has been busy remodeling our bathroom. We put in a new vanity, tore down wallpaper, painted, put down a new floor. My mom also helped Ethan paint our living room, so the house seems "freshened up". Taya and I did our part by staying out of the way!

I hope you enjoy these somewhat old pictures (they are from at least 3 weeks ago). I have more recent ones to post if I get a chance today.

Daddy and Taya playing

Working on sitting up and playing with Taya.

She loves drinking out of her "big girl cup". She gets a drink everytime she sits in her highchair. She only gets water in her cup, but she thinks it's great!

Nima being cute! She enjoys playing with Taya now that she is more interactive. Nima also loves all of Taya's blankets and eats on them, lays on them, and plays on them.

Sitting up! So serious!

This is her crawling Pooh bear.