The Easter Holiday!

Easter was spent playing, cooking, and spending time with family. We had awoke that morning to Taylor calling to us from her bedroom, asking for the Easter Bunny! When we all got ready for the day, Taylor realized that the Easter Bunny had visited and delivered an Easter basket and had hidden all of the eggs we had colored! She first dove into the basket and received some stickers, nail polish and candy. Taylor went right for the candy, immediately eating M&M's! She then ran around the house looking for eggs, and every time she found one she yelled "I found it!" She would place the egg in the bin and continue looking for more! She got so excited about the idea of eating the eggs that she smashed one on the fireplace, almost as to ensure that we would let her eat one right then! She eat a couple of them and then went for more chocolate! We had a great morning, playing and goofing around, and then Bushka and Grandpa Mike came by for dinner. Taylor wore her yellow dress with her baby crocs, while I cooked ham, sweet potatoes and a green bean casserole. After dinner we topped it off with Dutch Apple Pie! All the food was delicious! Taylor received a basket from my mother which contained jewelry, candy and cookies! Needless to say Taylor had a great sugar high all night! It was great to spend time with family and we all had a great day. We all feel so blessed!

Winter in Michigan

January 8th was Tony's birthday, and I had it all planned out with a cake and everything. Taylor and I went to the store and ordered the cake, but she cold not contain her excitment. All week she ran around asking for cake, so Tony knew what was up! Never the less, it was a great day.


These past couple of months have been very cold and very snowy here in Michigan. But we have made the most of it. Taylor loves to go sledding and play in the snow. She has been playing with the cats a lot lately and they have been letting her! Taylor is growing and surprising me every day. She has so many new sayings, and everytime we here them we crack up!
"It happens."
"Taylor's a toddler."
"Taylor potty training!"
"Twinkle twinkle little star..."
"Patty cake patty cake..."
"Whats goin on?"
"Kody and Tommy crazy."
"Im a cowboy baby!"


Here are somepictures of the past few months.

Merry Christmas!

Over the past 2 weeks we have had a very busy Christmas holiday. We visited with our friends families and had our own celebration. With all the goodies and presents, it was overwhelming!

On Saturday December 20th, we went to visit with long time friends, Marty, Bruce, Elyse, and Bethany, to celebrate my mom's (Bushka's) birthday. Since it falls on Christmas Eve, we always celebrate a little earlier so she can enjoy it separate from the Christmas holiday. Everyone has a blast and it was so great to hang out with our friends. Taylor's godmother Bethany was there, and it was great to see them together.






On Sunday December 21st we went to the Henry Ford Museum to see the "Out of this world" exhibit, with some costumes from film and television. There we were able to see Santa. Taylor had a great time, and when it came her turn to see Santa, she walked right up to him and posed for pictures! Ever since she has been walking around saying "Ho, Ho, Ho! Merry Christmas!"


On Christmas Eve we went to Bushka's to celebrate with my family. My mom (Bushka), My step dad Mike, Sister Stacey, her boyfriend Ken, Tony, Taylor and myself were all there. We had a wonderful dinner, good conversation and then opened presents. Taylor received some wonderful gifts including a high chair for her babies, a Little People house set, and a doctor's kit. She was hesitant at first to open the gifts, but once she started Taylor never stopped! She tore through them and after she got the wrapping paper off each one we had to open the gift itself so she could play with it right then and there! When it came time to leave, she threw a fit, holding onto her highchair with all her might! Eventually she allowed us to put her in the car, after a very sad a pathetic goodbye to everyone!






The next morning we had our own celebration with Taylor. We opened presents and she was very excited! From us she got a few things like a pair of shoes for her baby, and some Cailou DVD's. But from Santa she got a ton of Little People, a Spiderman, Indiana Jones, and a Batman Galactic Heroes! She also received some building blocks, and a Little People book. She opened everything with a ton of excitement and had a blast!





From there we headed to Tony's brother Keith's house to celebrate with the Van Sant family. Everyone came including Keith, Josh, Kayla, Nick, Jenny, Zach, Jessica, Terry, Mary, Uncle Mark, Mark Jr, Mason and Carson. We had a great dinner which I think everyone overate on!, and then opened presents. Just to name a few things Taylor received, a Little People castle, a Care Bear, books, and the biggest of all (literally!) was a four wheeler! It fits her perfect and it runs via button so her little legs don't have to push a pedal! We all had such a great time.





On December 27th we went to my grandparents house to visit for a while. It was great to see Taylor want to be with her Great Grandparents, and she really enjoyed spending the time with them. she got the cutest little cloth house with 4 bears, a bed, chairs and blankets inside! She loves it! She also received an amazing tea set from my Aunt Donna and uncle Paul.

With the Christmas season now coming to an end, Taylor is still walking around asking for presents. She doesn't understand that it has ended. I am sad too, as this was a great holiday!

MERRY CHRISTMAS! Love, The Van Sant's!

November Celebrations!

November brings us 2 special occasions throughout the month. November 14th was Taylor's 2nd birthday! We held a small birthday party for her, with family and a few close friends. We decorated the house with Elmo balloons and banners. She opened gifts and ate cake and ice cream. She received many thoughtful gifts. Thank you to all who gave her something. She loves her baby doll, rarely leaves without it, and the magnadoodle and art supplies are a huge hit! We think we have a little artist on our hands. Taylor enjoyed her birthday party and for many days following, every time she saw a candle or something resembling it she says "Happy Birthday to you!" Her stats are as follows for her 2nd year check up: weight: 21 lbs. height: 30.5 inches head circumference: 17.75 inches. She is still our little peanut, and she is still as of right now, in 12 month clothes, however, those are getting to be short on her. Her vocabulary is amazing us every day. She knows all the names of the people at her day care, all her animals sounds, her alphabet form a to g, her numbers from 1 to 10, and much much more. Her favorite song at the moment is the alphabet song and the itsy bitsy spider.






Being in Michigan, November also brings us our first snow. Taylor had a great time playing in the snow with her daddy and Danielle and Dominic. She enjoyed walking around in the snow and sledding. Her favorite thing was being pulled by Tony in the sled!




November also brings us Thanksgiving, in which we are so thankful to have Taylor in our lives. We went to spend the evening with my grandparents, and Taylor had a good time. My mother went (Bushka), my grandparents, my Aunt Donna, Uncle Paul, and my cousins Daniel and Kate. Taylor was shy for a few minutes but perked right up and became herself within no time. She didn't really care for the turkey that night but she ate lots of potatoes, and cranberry sauce! She had a great time and enjoyed everyone's company.

October in Michigan... so beautiful

This past month has seemed to be quite a blur. Our time has been spent very busily, and we have enjoyed every moment of it. On October 11th Tony, Taylor and I headed up to Frankenmuth, Michigan for Tony's family vacation there. We met up with Mary, Terry, Keith, Joshua, Kayla, and Nick at Bronners around 10:30am. We shopped around the town for a little while and Taylor seemed to be enjoying herself. She was busy the whole time, and she wore herself out. We went to check into the Bavarian Inn and played for while. Tay never got a nap that day, so come dinner she was riled up. In her usual fashion Taylor decided to fight her dinner and throw fit for a while. When that has passed we decided to hide the healthy stuff within the "good" stuff! She shoved that down pretty quick. Afterwards we went back to the hotel to swim for a while. The Bavarian Inn has five swimming pools, with one that was only one and a half feet deep. This was perfect for Taylor! She played for about two hours with us and Grandma and Papa, and the only reason we got out was because she was shivering! She was such a fish. She would lay on her belly and say "swimming" all while pushing herself back and forth! She fell asleep really quickly with Grandma and Papa, and Tony, Keith and I had a good time having a couple drinks. It was a great night! The following day we shopped around town a little while longer, and Taylor found a piano that was the perfect height for her! She played for quite a long time! We then headed home. Taylor was great the whole day!






On October 18th we took Taylor down to Erwin's Cider Mill in South Lyon. This cider mill is popular among the other parents at Taylor's school so we decided to give it a try. We headed down and when we pulled up we all got pretty excited. There were bounce houses, orchards, the shop, and an animal farm. We parked and headed to see the animals. We were pretty surprised when we walked up and discovered that Taylor could go in with the animals! We all went into the pen and Taylor was not scared! She wanted to pet all the animals and her favorite by far was the baby goats! They were the perfect size for her and they were not too busy. She was able to pet sheep, goats, a horse, donkey, duck, and llamas! We then headed over to watch the big kids play on the blow up stuff. We were shocked to find out Taylor could go inside the bounce house! She enjoyed herself and would not get out when her time was up! We got onto the tractor and rode out to the pumpkin patch to pick out our pumpkins. I wish we had some pictures from that time but our camera died... but I have to tell you that it was cute! Taylor loved the cider but did not want to try the doughnuts! We also discovered that Taylor is not the biggest fan of pumpkin bread.




On October 29th we carved our pumpkins and this year Taylor wanted nothing to do with the insides! Instead she just wanted to play with a piece of the pumpkin and even that was short lived. She had a great time looking at the finished products and we cant help but wonder why she has such a huge grin on her face while she holds the knife in the pumpkin!?



On Halloween, we had the perfect weather. It was quite unusual for this time of year here in Michigan. It was about 65 degrees and sunny! Also with the time change later in the year this year we were able to have more sun later! Taylor had her Halloween party at her school. All the kids dressed up and trick or treated, made pumpkins and had family visit. She trick or treated at school with Grandma and made her pumpkin with Papa. We came for the evening and started to get ready for the night of fun. My mom "Bushka" came over and we all had dinner and headed out for the night. Taylor dressed up as a witch and got a ton of candy! She did not act to carry her cauldron but she did tell everyone "trick or treat" and "thank you." She had a great time being out with all the other kids and having all of there with her. When she had had enough of the trick or treating we came back to the house and she helped pass out candy with us. She was up late that night and she enjoyed every moment of it!





Yesterday was such nice weather that we decided to spend the day outside cleaning up the lawn. Taylor had a blast playing in the leaf piles and she is probably thankful for the Halloween decor from our party to be taken down!


And for those of you wondering about Tony and I, we had a great time dressing up too!