The Taynors

The Taynors

Thursday, June 22, 2017

Random Taynor Family Updates

Its officially Baby Watch 2017.  Baby Taynor should be making his appearance any day now, so I am trying to fill my days keeping busy, with the occasional rest, so I don't get to stir crazy.  What a perfect time to blog about some of the random things going on in our family.

- Yesterday was Ryan's last day of Kindergarten.  I can't believe how fast that went by AND how great of a year it was for him.  I was filled with anxiety about how the year would go.  Would he make friends, would he be able to handle the full day schedule, would the teacher get frustrated with him and his lack of ability to focus and concentrate??  Would he love going to school or would it be torture?  Well as many people assured me, everything ended up being just fine.  He had a teacher that totally understood his personality and loved that even though he could be a bit distracted and anxious, he was a "really great kid".  He made plenty of friends, and he really loved getting on the bus each morning.  Academically he did pretty well.  Not top of the class, but definitely did not struggle.  He learned so much in school, and as I knew he would he continued to learn and pursue all of his passions outside of the classroom (sea creatures, dinosaurs, outer space).

-On the topic of Ryan, he is finishing up his soccer and baseball season.  Another area of Big change this year.  Up until this year we did organized activity to keep him busy and because lots of other kids his age were starting to play sports.  But he didn't really love any of it.  We are so excited to see that change big time this year.  All of a sudden he was playing actual soccer and really having fun.  And baseball was even better, he LOVES going to baseball and practicing baseball all the time with Dad in the backyard.  Maybe we just start kids to young, they need a couple more years to mature, but this spring season was a great success.  Now he wants to try a swim team, wrestling, basketball, and do gymnastics again this summer.  Clearly we can't do it all, but I will let him try to all at some point to see what becomes his favorite.

-  Patrick is  totally your average 3 1/2 year old boy.  Big personality, lots of potty jokes, loves to play in the dirt and with bugs, has a bit of a threenager attitude and temper, and wants to do everything and anything his big brother is doing.  His favorite expression right now is "me too" after every single thing Ryan says.  I want cereal- me too!  I want to go to bed- me too!  I need to go to the bathroom- me too!  Its super cute actually.  He did amazing at school, and his best buddies were the two girls in class.  I hear about Anna every day, his first little crush.  We have caught him a few times wearing tutus at pick up and telling me he wants to be a princess ballerina when he grows up.

- Both boys are OBSESSED with Mike.  Like seriously worship the ground he walks on.  For a while, Patrick was glued to me but all of a sudden he is a self proclaimed Big Kid and Dad is totally the cool one around here.  Its amazing how much they love him.  I do think its a little bit because "absence makes the heart grow fonder"  and Mike has been working very long days and traveling much more than he ever has, so when he is around the boys just can't get enough of him.  Whether is cuddling in bed on the weekends, helping him with the yard, wrestling (lots and lots of wrestling) after dinner, or just relaxing watching movies... its all so much more fun with Dad.  I have a love hate with this dynamic.  It is amazing to watch and so sweet to see how they look up to him.  But I am a bit jealous, I'll admit.  I am stuck being the life coordinator for the whole family, while Mike gets to be super hero.  But in all seriousness, I'll take it.  I love to watch their love for him.

-House projects, an every day conversation around here. This winter we checked off a few more boxes!  The biggest one being that Mike finished out basement!  And it is awesome!  I'll post pictures when I can but it turned out great.  We have an adult hang out space, a kids play room space, and still left lots of storage space for my seasonal things, a workout area, toy overflow, and kitchen overflow.  We are 96% finished.  We are  waiting on counter tops for the bar area, a few new light fixtures, and to finish the ceiling over the play room, but even without those few things, it is a fully usable space. This was a huge project that took over 6 months to complete and had a hefty price tag, but it was worth it.  And as with all projects, the completion of one leads to the need to start a new one.  Now that the toys are in the basement, we have a large living and dining room area that are ready to be renovated.  New floors, light fixtures, furniture, built ins... thats the next big project.  BUT that needs to wait for a little while.  I think we will be living with empty space rooms for the near future.

-We also replaced our roof this year- that is one of those not so glamorous projects. A lot of money, but not a lot to show for it.  People don't come over and say "wow I love what you did with your roof".  But it needed to be done, and we can check that off the must do list too.  Unfortunately it took a chunk of money that could be used for the other things on my wish list.  To help balance it out, Mike did all the landscaping work himself and that is growing in so nicely and adding a lot of life to the front and back of our house, and he is spray painting our worn out shutters to give them a fresh look without spending much money.

-Still on the list of things I dream about doing to the house - a back deck and patio area, putting in a pool (major dream world), living/dining room renovation, kitchen remodel, and master bath remodel. And on a smaller scale, changing all of the door handles and light fixtures throughout the house.

-Last but not least, our summer plans.  This summer our plan is to not have much of a plan.  The boys will go to camp twice a week for 6 weeks to give me a little bit of one on one time with the baby.  But other than that I wanted to be free and flexible to enjoy actually having the summer off from work.  If we get invited to go swim with friends, we can go.  If we feel like having lazy pajama days, we can do that too.  I am looking forward to enjoying this family time.

Will post pictures of the renovations, and the boys, and hopefully our new baby very soon!

Monday, June 12, 2017

The Final Stretch: 37/38 weeks pregnant

I can not believe how fast this pregnancy went.  I spent the first half not really believing I was pregnant and just praying a lot.  Then the second half has been so busy with my new job, Mike's new job, and a crazy schedule with two very active boys, that the nine months pretty much flew by.  I frequently here things like wow I look great, or I am carrying so well... I pretty much contribute this to my non-stop movement this whole pregnancy.  There hasn't been any time to relax and put my feet up, and no time to add on those extra pregnancy pounds.  I can't complain about that.

Generally I feel good.  I am swollen- my rings have been retired to the safe and only certain shoes fit my feet.  I wake up in the morning feeling pretty good.  I have energy and ready to be productive.  Then I hit about 2-4pm and I am tired and sore, and then by 8pm I am officially super pregnant and uncomfortable with lots of pressure all through my low back, hips and down my legs.  I did stop working about a week ago, but managed to fill my extra time playing catch up on all the things I didn't get to do while working.  Plus I am not taking an official "maternity leave" from real estate, so I am still doing a couple hours of work each day for that.

I am full of emotions right now- I'm nervous (whats life going to be like with 3 kids?  How are we going to manage all of these kids?  Will Mike be around to help or is it all going to be on me?) and I am anxious about the actual delivery (Will I be able to have another natural un-medicated delivery?  When will labor start? How is everything going to play out?) and of course excited (We have prayed and hoped for this baby for several years now, so excited to finally meet him).  But I also have a batch of mixed feelings because we are pretty sure this will be our last baby.  I will never say never, and of course we need to see how the next several months plays out before really deciding, but if you asked us now we would probably say we are done making babies.  So that is adding a whole new set of emotions, knowing that this may be my last time ever pregnant.  I love being pregnant and all of the excitement that comes along with it, so its hard for me to wrap my brain around this stage of my life being over.

But I am not going to get to caught up in those thoughts, I need to focus on all positive happy healthy baby and labor vibes, I can think about the future in the future.

Details about this pregnancy-
- They switched me from Lovenox to Heprin which is a twice a day shot.  It hurts.  Like a lot.  My poor tummy is very bruised and battered and sore.  The shots have officially become emotionally and physically draining.
-Heart burn is my enemy.
-I get braxton hicks contractions all day every day.  This is pretty standard pregnancy for me.  They start around 20-25 weeks pregnant and continue and get more intense throughout the weeks.  They are in high gear right now.
-This baby is sitting LOW, but also pretty standard.  He never moved up under my ribs like the other boys did, he just likes hanging out low in my Va Jay Jay.  Most of my pressure and discomfort is in my pelvis, cervix, and shoots down my legs.
-I have been doing lots of yoga, stretching, and trying to get outside for walks as much as possible.  All to help baby find a good position.
-I am loving my midwives.  Its a new group right now, and I love each of them more then the last.  They seem to practice very similar to how I hope to deliver this baby.  I am glad I made the switch.
-People say the STUPIDEST things when they hear I am having a 3rd boy.  Seriously, people have no tact.
-He is a mover, this baby.  He is one of those babies you can see moving in my tummy from the other side of the room.   Every doctor and ultra sound tech I have seen always comments on how much he move.  And he gets nightly hiccups right as I am getting ready for bed every night.
-We did get a chance to set up a nursery for him, we did a cool old airplane theme which I am loving right now.

The boys take on things:
-Ryan is very excited.  He can't wait to be a helper, and already has plan for what he can do each day to be the best big brother.  He tells everyone he sees that his brother will be here soon.
-Patrick has warmed up to the idea of the baby.  He still says "baby should stay inside" and "I don't really want baby to come out yet" but he is coming around.  He likes to feel him kick, and to rub my tummy, and give kisses to "my brudder Thomas".
-Ryan and Patrick have been playing together sooooo well recently.  This could be a great thing or a bad thing.  I hope this continues, and they can be buddies all summer and really enjoy each other while I'm in baby mode.  But I also hope that the addition of a new baby in the house doesn't mess up their great dynamic.  I guess only time will tell.

That's all I can come up with off the top of my head.  Its going to be 95 degrees tomorrow.  I hope to go float in a pool and try to relax as much as I can, while enjoying this final leg of pregnancy.  Next time I blog, hopefully it will be about my wonderful peaceful and easy natural delivery with lots of pictures of my beautiful baby boy :)  All good vibes going on around here!