Spending Time with Princess T

For more photographs of Brooke & Taylor, visit my facebook fan page: Young South Photography and "like" me :)

America's Next Top Toddler

Brooke and I have been fans of ANTM since Cycle 1. I'm sure you've picked up on our Tyra references over the past few years. This past Sunday morning I had a chance to create my own ANTM spread. I envision it appearing in some toddler-type Seventeen magazine, which I know does not exist. These photos illustrate the versatility of Taylor's look, and I had SO much fun playing dress up with her. If only we'd had hair and make-up artists, as well! I'd like to hear your Tyra critiques, everyone! I'll go ahead and do my best with mine. Everyone vote on Taylor's most believable look!

This is Taylor's "poet" look. The I'm-so-bored-with-everything-you-are-all-so-juvenile-with-your-material-possessions look. I think she's very relatable here. I wish we'd had a beret.

This is Taylor's flirty, fun, you-wanna-dance-I'm-a-princess look. I love the motion here, but with the shoulder forward we completely lost her neck.

This is Taylor's collegiate attire. The intensity on her face as she yells "touchdown" shows a commitment to capturing the spirit of college football.

This is her peace-love-and-happiness look. The hands over the heart portrays genuine emotion, and the calm look on her face really does make me feel at peace.

And last, but certainly not least, Taylor's Young Republican look. I think she did an excellent job here of capturing the politician's wife smile. It says, "I'm here, smiling for your photos, but I'd really rather be doing anything else, preferably eating cheesy puffs and watching Cinderella." Love it.

Okay! So now for the panel's critiques.

Taylor's Uncle Dirky

These two have a secret language. Every morning that Taylor was here, Dirk would pop right out of bed as soon as he could hear her on the stairs coming down from the guest rooms. My husband is not a morning person, unless Taylor is in the house. On her last visit, he compared their relationship to the movie "50 First Dates." She would play hard to get and want nothing to do with him, she'd eventually warm up to him after he hit himself in the head with a few of her stuffed animals, and then they would be inseparable. Until the next morning. When they would start back at square one.

Not this visit.

Taylor would babble about Uncle Dirky on and on. It was adorable.

This pretty much sums it up.
This is Taylor and her Uncle watching the Little Mermaid (again.) Apparently she didn't want him to watch the whole movie. Because she kept putting her shirt over his head and zoning out that she'd even done it. Those Disney Princesses are amazing. Seriously. Look at the concentration on her face right here! All she can think about is Ariel. Not whether or not she is slowly suffocating her beloved Uncle Dirky.
Dirk also busted open some old school tricks. Sucking helium from balloons and singing Taylor songs. And then they would both try to blow the balloon back up. And then Taylor would try to get me to blow the spitty, nasty balloon back up. I passed. Every time.

Taylor's Tea Party

I promise, Brooke, these are the only photos I'm going to share. I want you to pick your faves and post on your blog. But these were too cute to keep to myself!

My Flower Girl Was Better Than Yours

Don't hate. She wore a tutu! I mean, have you ever seen anything cuter?!

She was right there for the cake (obviously, look at those thighs!)
Then we got to spend some time just the two of us.
Throwing flowers (an art which she has perfected.)
She was a little concerned when she thought I may be stepping ON the flowers, so she crawled under my dress to check.
She took a little breather before the dancing.
And then she was right there on the dance floor. She even did a bit of a solo during the Blackwell Family Dance Off.
Either the tutu started to itch or she just wanted to throw some scandal into the reception.
Cutest booty ever.

The Sneakiest Little Thief

"Taylor, I'm not going to give you my breakfast. Your daddy makes the bestest eggs in the whole wide world and I only get them once every few months. Sorry."

"Seriously? You can give me that look all day long, it's not going to work."

Then the little fork started creeping closer:

....And closer...

And then it started to stab wildly around on my breakfast plate.

I have to give it to her, she really does keep her eye on the prize.

Then she gave up and just started physically placing the eggs on the fork.

Oh, and did I mention that in addition to sneaking food off dinner plates, she's also started her pick pocket training? And the princess bit is one heck of a disguise. "Hey, Mom? Wanna know what happened to that chapstick? Just ask your precious angel granddaughter" :)

HOLY GUACAMOLE!

So last week we have Piper vs. Furniture and this week we have Taylor vs. Avocadoes.

So at first, everyone at the table attempted to share in the appetizer, but Taylor wanted none of that. It wasn't long before she just grabbed the bowl and clutched it to her chest for dear life. And who needs chips anyway? I mean, it's nothing but added carbs! Our little munchkin prefers to just scoop the deliciousness out of the bowl with her hands (oh, and this was not just guacamole, but pico de gallo, as well...raw onion and tomatoes.)


Who wants a high five?

No joke, we did not instruct her to do this. She needed to get to the bottom of that bowl, so she tilted it up and licked it clean.

If only I had a photo of making my daily homemade trail mix snack in the kitchen. I look down and not only are my dogs sitting at attention and pleading with their eyes, but in-between them stands Taylor with the exact same look on her face. So you know what I did? I gave the girl a goldfish. Obviously the scrambled eggs and fruit weren't substantial enough for her first meal of the day:

Farm Girls

Since only 3 days of my visit are overlapping with Brooke and Taylor's, I've been snapping TONS of photos. Here are a couple of my favorites:

I have no idea where Mama found these "Farm Girl at Heart" shirts, but they are seriously the cutest things ever.

This is my absolute favorite. I'm so glad we got some photos in front of the old corn crib because Daddy has plans to tear it down and reuse the lumber to build his new one-room cabin down by Taylor Lake.

LOVELY texture at this barn. So many fun places for pictures on This Young Farm.

Taylor-Tot Turns One!

What an amazing weekend. Looking back through the photos, you can really capture the joy and excitement that was in the air. Not only celebrating a birthday, but also a baptism. Here's the link to the photos!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/libbadibbado/sets/72157616713342098/

Sorry, have to copy and paste :-)

Quite Possibly the Cutest Video EVER

I shot this video in Asheville when I visited last week. It's pretty lengthy, but definitely worth the time. I had Dirk set it to music simply because I cannot stand hearing my voice in videos (EEEW!) But the only thing you miss having the music is Taylor making Piper yelp as she pulls her down by the scruff of her neck. My niece is a bruiser, don't let the cheesy cheeky smile fool you.

How does my hair look?

NOT the answer I was looking for.


So my little trip to Asheville was amazing and much needed. I was able to pay for my gas and expenses by taking photos of Brooke's friend's adorable children, and I got to spend an entire evening with my goddaughter all to myself. The one stressful thing was the 9-week-old puppy who decided to become a full-fledged pain-in-the-butt dog during our stay. I was seriously ready to take her to the pound on the fourth morning of getting up at 6 o'clock. I'm calling it Puppy-Partum Depression. She's lucky she's so stinking cute.

One of the things I have new appreciation for in the mountain town is their bead stores. Oh my God. I was like a kid in a candy store and got some super fun new materials and supplies to play with. Stay tuned for new styles!

off to school, off to school

One of the best things about visiting in Asheville was dressing Taylor up in five different outfits every day and taking photos. This picture might just be my favorite. Doesn't she look like she's dressed for her first day of kindergarten? Either that or school pictures?

baby breakdown....

One of the greatest things about my goddaughter are her mood swings. Seriously. She's a sensitive soul, and will be smiling and happy one minute, and if you start laughing or giggling at how cute she is, she'll start screaming the next. Because she's still too young to draw the distinction between laughing WITH and laughing AT. And, as opposed to Brooke, I blame this ALL on her genetics. She's exactly like a few other people in her family, and her baby bingo moments made for some fun photo opportunities: