I grew up in a family of runners. My father has run the NYC marathon, my sister was a competitive cross country runner in college, my brother is a personal fitness trainer/soccer player/athlete that could run a race without any kind of training, and even my mother has run a 5k in the past. And then there is me, the one person in the family that has trouble running to the mailbox and back. I have always said that I would be in big trouble if I ever had to run for my life! Well, I decided it was time to give running a try.
It all started when my sister decided to run the Seaside Heights half marathon. She asked us to go along and run the 5k race and the help support her. My original plan was just to put Ryan in the jogging stroller and walk the race. I planned on doing it at a quick pace, but not to run. But then I started working out much more regularly and I felt like I was in much better shape. Side note- like I said earlier, I have the advantage of having a brother who is a personal strength and conditioning coach and owns his own gym. As long as I have a babysitter, I can go and workout whenever I want. His group sessions really kick my ass, but I have become addicted to them. I try to go at least 3 times a week, but Mike and I have to take turns with who gets to go at night. Anyway, this past week I was feeling pretty good and decided what the hell, I am going to run the race. The final push was when my dad volunteered to hang out with Ryan during the run so I didn't even have to worry about the stroller.
So I didn't train to run (like I have attempted to do in the past), instead I just worked out and got into better shape over all. I still didn't expect to run the entire 3 miles. Mom and I had made a plan to run as much as we could, but take several breaks to walk. That being said, I shocked myself when I actually ran the entire race. If you are a runner this probably seems like such a small accomplishment and a silly blog post, but for someone who doesn't run EVER, this is really a big deal.
The first mile felt really long and I got a cramp in my stomach. But I kept going and the cramp went away and I found a good pace. The second and third mile were much easier. By the end I was definitely tired but I felt pretty good. Running in a race type setting was a huge help! I am super competitive so running with other people pushed me to keep going and stay focused. When I looked around and saw a 9 year old girl keeping pace with me or the 75 year old women pass me during the second mile, I kept thinking "If they can do it, I absolutely can do it."
I am proud to say that I completed this first race in 35 minutes and ran 97% of it. More importantly, I want to do it again. Maybe one day I will actually run fast instead of my slow paced jog. But hey at least I have taken the first step!
The Taynors
Sunday, October 16, 2011
We have Teeth!
After "teething" since he was 2 months old, Ryan cut his first two teeth this morning. We have been checking his gums every day for weeks since he has been drooling incessantly, fussy, and putting everything in his mouth. This morning, I jokingly asked my mom to check Ryan for teeth assuming there wouldn't be anything there... and to our surprise she could actually feel the teeth. My mom was so excited that she was the one to find them and promises she will follow the old tradition of buying him his first pair of shoes! My dad even got a silver spoon and tapped it along RJ's gums to make sure he heard the official clink of the teeth. I didn't know anything about these old traditions, but it was fun to see my parents get so excited and do the things they did with us when we were babies.
So its official, Ryan's first tooth - 7 1/2 months old!
So its official, Ryan's first tooth - 7 1/2 months old!
Thursday, October 6, 2011
7 months!
Another great month! Ryan is at such a great stage. He is much happier (most days), he is silly and fun, and he is very expressive. It is easy to tell what mood he is in. Ryan is better and playing on his own and overall he is so much fun.
As always, here are some of the fun things we did from 6-7 months of age. We had a labor day BBQ at the house, we went to Monmouth racetrack, we went to the O'Brien Irish Angle golf outing, we watched football (the Giants are currently 3-1) and Yankees playoff baseball, we walked in a charity event for breast cancer, we went apple and pumpkin picking, we babysat for Jay, Emma, and Brooklynn, and we spent lots of time with both sets of grandparents. Most importantly, I did not go back to work this month as planned so we got to spend lots of time together!
Here are the developmental events of the month:
-Ryan sits very well on his own. He likes to sit with toys all around him and play.
-He is very close to crawling. He can get on all fours and rock back and forth. He wants to be on the move badly.
-He can get around by scooting, pushing backwards, and rolling all over the place.
-He is completely sleeping through the night. We have reached the 7am-7pm sleep schedule!
-He is getting better at naps. In the morning, I can just lay him down and leave the room and he will go to sleep on his own for about 1.5 hours. The afternoon is a little bit harder, I still have to rock him to sleep. Some days he takes a 3rd nap, but not always.
- He is STILL teething, but no teeth have come through.
- He eats two meals a day- fruit for breakfast and veggies for dinner. I am trying to wait til his teeth come in to get into a real solids schedule, but your a hungry boy!
- He still loves to be on the move. He loves going on walks and he just watches and observes the world around him.
- As a have said, diaper changes are a real wrestling match.
-Bath time is chaos.
-He can take his pacifier in and out of his mouth on his own.
-He is becoming a thumb sucker.
-He loves being up on Daddy's shoulders
-I feel like his face is always changing.
-He is so sweet and smiley and cuddly and just plain love-able!
I know Ryan can give me a run for my money, but I wouldn't change one thing about him. I am more in love than I ever imagined I could be! He is perfect!
As always, here are some of the fun things we did from 6-7 months of age. We had a labor day BBQ at the house, we went to Monmouth racetrack, we went to the O'Brien Irish Angle golf outing, we watched football (the Giants are currently 3-1) and Yankees playoff baseball, we walked in a charity event for breast cancer, we went apple and pumpkin picking, we babysat for Jay, Emma, and Brooklynn, and we spent lots of time with both sets of grandparents. Most importantly, I did not go back to work this month as planned so we got to spend lots of time together!
Here are the developmental events of the month:
-Ryan sits very well on his own. He likes to sit with toys all around him and play.
-He is very close to crawling. He can get on all fours and rock back and forth. He wants to be on the move badly.
-He can get around by scooting, pushing backwards, and rolling all over the place.
-He is completely sleeping through the night. We have reached the 7am-7pm sleep schedule!
-He is getting better at naps. In the morning, I can just lay him down and leave the room and he will go to sleep on his own for about 1.5 hours. The afternoon is a little bit harder, I still have to rock him to sleep. Some days he takes a 3rd nap, but not always.
- He is STILL teething, but no teeth have come through.
- He eats two meals a day- fruit for breakfast and veggies for dinner. I am trying to wait til his teeth come in to get into a real solids schedule, but your a hungry boy!
- He still loves to be on the move. He loves going on walks and he just watches and observes the world around him.
- As a have said, diaper changes are a real wrestling match.
-Bath time is chaos.
-He can take his pacifier in and out of his mouth on his own.
-He is becoming a thumb sucker.
-He loves being up on Daddy's shoulders
-I feel like his face is always changing.
-He is so sweet and smiley and cuddly and just plain love-able!
And because I love his little hands!
I know Ryan can give me a run for my money, but I wouldn't change one thing about him. I am more in love than I ever imagined I could be! He is perfect!
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Random Thoughts
Lots on my mind recently, so here is a brief discussion of the random thoughts and happenings this week.
* Ryan said "Ma Ma" today! It was not directed at me, and it was really just a new sound (ma ma ma ma) but it still counts. This was the very first thing he said that was actual consonants! He was laying in his crib, fighting sleep like always, and I could see him looking up at the ceiling just saying ma ma over and over again. It was great!
*I did some babysitting this week and I just want to say God bless mothers of twins. On Friday, I watched Brooklynn so I got to experience having a 6 month old AND a 2 month old. I can't imagine doing that everyday, so if you have twins I'll pray for you! Then on Tuesday, I watched Emma so it was a morning with a 6 month old and a 12 month old! Again, I had my hands full. I have realized that one of the many reasons why pregnancies last 9 months is so that you can't have kids closer than that in age. Unless of course you are a mother of multiples, in which I say it again... God bless you!!
*On a sad note, my last time nursing Ryan was this past Thursday. The outcome of our nursing journey is this: 5 months of almost exclusive breastfeeding and 2 months of transitioning from breastmilk to formula. In total, Ryan was nursed for 6 months and 3 weeks. I do really hope circumstances are different with my next child so that I can do it for even longer. It makes me so sad to think that I will never ever nurse him again, but I honestly know that it was the right time for us both to stop. I will miss those bonding, cuddly moments so I will have to make it up with extra cuddles during other parts of the day.
*Diaper changes are a complete wrestling match! I literally break a sweat when trying to change his diaper or clothes. Now that Ryan is a boy on a mission, he does not stay nicely on his back. As soon as I lay him down, he flips his body all over the place trying to roll around. Sometimes I put him on the floor and basically sit on top of him just to get the job finished. Oh boy, I can't wait til he is crawling. This boy is going to keep me on my toes.
*Mike has been working so hard on the salon and it is almost finished! I believe it will be complete and it working order by this weekend. Now I need to get my name out there and hopefully fill that salon with tons of paying customers.
*Ryan still cries during his bedtime routine. Yep, almost every night. I long for the quiet peaceful relaxing bedtime where we take a bath and listen to lullabies and I massage lotion softly onto his chubby legs. But no, he has a look of panic during the whole bath, we wrestle to get him in a clean diaper and I have to flip him over six times just to get his PJs on and by half way through RJ is so tired he is hysterically crying. He does not calm down until the lights are off and he is in my arms drinking his bottle. Does anyone else go through this 30 minutes of chaos every night before bed??
*September has been an awesome month and I am totally in love with my little man.
* Ryan said "Ma Ma" today! It was not directed at me, and it was really just a new sound (ma ma ma ma) but it still counts. This was the very first thing he said that was actual consonants! He was laying in his crib, fighting sleep like always, and I could see him looking up at the ceiling just saying ma ma over and over again. It was great!
*I did some babysitting this week and I just want to say God bless mothers of twins. On Friday, I watched Brooklynn so I got to experience having a 6 month old AND a 2 month old. I can't imagine doing that everyday, so if you have twins I'll pray for you! Then on Tuesday, I watched Emma so it was a morning with a 6 month old and a 12 month old! Again, I had my hands full. I have realized that one of the many reasons why pregnancies last 9 months is so that you can't have kids closer than that in age. Unless of course you are a mother of multiples, in which I say it again... God bless you!!
*On a sad note, my last time nursing Ryan was this past Thursday. The outcome of our nursing journey is this: 5 months of almost exclusive breastfeeding and 2 months of transitioning from breastmilk to formula. In total, Ryan was nursed for 6 months and 3 weeks. I do really hope circumstances are different with my next child so that I can do it for even longer. It makes me so sad to think that I will never ever nurse him again, but I honestly know that it was the right time for us both to stop. I will miss those bonding, cuddly moments so I will have to make it up with extra cuddles during other parts of the day.
*Diaper changes are a complete wrestling match! I literally break a sweat when trying to change his diaper or clothes. Now that Ryan is a boy on a mission, he does not stay nicely on his back. As soon as I lay him down, he flips his body all over the place trying to roll around. Sometimes I put him on the floor and basically sit on top of him just to get the job finished. Oh boy, I can't wait til he is crawling. This boy is going to keep me on my toes.
*Mike has been working so hard on the salon and it is almost finished! I believe it will be complete and it working order by this weekend. Now I need to get my name out there and hopefully fill that salon with tons of paying customers.
*Ryan still cries during his bedtime routine. Yep, almost every night. I long for the quiet peaceful relaxing bedtime where we take a bath and listen to lullabies and I massage lotion softly onto his chubby legs. But no, he has a look of panic during the whole bath, we wrestle to get him in a clean diaper and I have to flip him over six times just to get his PJs on and by half way through RJ is so tired he is hysterically crying. He does not calm down until the lights are off and he is in my arms drinking his bottle. Does anyone else go through this 30 minutes of chaos every night before bed??
*September has been an awesome month and I am totally in love with my little man.
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Ordinary Day Photos
I was reading one of my favorite blogs Baby Rabies and she gave me a great idea. The photo challenge was to take 1 picture an hour from the minute you wake up until you go to bed on just a plain old regular day. The photos should not be planned or posed, the house does not need to be clean, you shouldn't dress in a special outfit... the idea is just to get pictures of what a normal day is like. We all take tons of pictures of special days and birthdays and holidays, but one day we are going to miss the ordinary days. I was so excited to do this and I hope to do it a few times a year.
So our ordinary day was Thursday, September 15, 2011. It was very sunny and warm all day. We had nothing special planned, it was a normal Thursday. I'll admit I took way more than 1 picture an hour, but I won't post them all. All of the pictures are of Ryan, because these days my ordinary days are all about him! I hope you enjoy the peak into our normal lives and that you complete the challenge too!
So our ordinary day was Thursday, September 15, 2011. It was very sunny and warm all day. We had nothing special planned, it was a normal Thursday. I'll admit I took way more than 1 picture an hour, but I won't post them all. All of the pictures are of Ryan, because these days my ordinary days are all about him! I hope you enjoy the peak into our normal lives and that you complete the challenge too!
7:00 am - I went in to get Ryan out of his crib. I was very lucky that this was one of the mornings that he slept all the way til 7!
7:30 am- Just finishing our morning nursing and cuddle time. The morning is the only time I still breastfeed and I love this time with him.
7:45 am- I am not a morning person so we spend a lot of time just playing in bed before I get the energy to actually go downstairs. This also gives us a change to hang out with Daddy as he gets ready for work.
8:30 am- Just finished a small bottle and getting ready for play time.
8:30 Getting in as much time with Dad as possible before he leaves. Mike has such a hard time leaving every morning.
8:45 am- Log rolling across the living room, almost nap time!
10:30 am- Just woke up from his morning nap. Getting changed and ready for the day. I tryed to get some work done while he slept. I checked e-mails, created business cards, payed the bills... you know all that fun stuff.
11:00 am- Playing and hanging out upstairs while I tackle the laundry and cleaning.
12:00 pm- Lunch time, squash was on the menu!
12:15 Lots of kisses and cuddling after eating.
12:30 Running errands. Today we went to Sally's for hair supplies and to the bagel place for mom's lunch.
1:00 pm- Playing in his excersaucer (his current favorite thing) so that I could eat lunch with a friend. He was just about ready for his afternoon nap. I did a haircut while he was sleeping.
2:30 pm- He's awake! Notice that he is in a different place in his crib every time he wakes up.
3:00 pm- Ryan was hanging out with Gigi because I had a hair client come.
4:00 pm- I was still working so Gigi was still babysitting.
5:00 pm- Yay for Daddy being home. Mike tries to get in some play time before its time for bed.
6:00 pm - He skipped his late afternoon nap so someone is getting very tired and very cranky.
7:00 pm- I finished working and it was time for bed. Little man was super tired.
7:15 pm- Bedtime routine. Change his clothes and diaper, lotion on his legs, lullabies, bottle, and cuddle time.
7:30 pm Sound asleep!!
I didn't even think to continue taking pictures until Mike and I went to bed. So just picture me working on the computer trying to find part time jobs, Mike leaving to workout, us finally eating dinner together at around 8:45 in front of the TV watching the Big Brother Finale. I tryed to straighten up the house during commercial breaks and we went to bed around 11.
And that is a day in our pretty boring life!
Friday, September 16, 2011
New Status- Work from Home mom
If you follow my blog, you probably read my very, long panicked vent about going back to work in September. Well things got even worse in July and August. I was an emotional basket case. I spent most days having a nervous break down and/or hysterically crying about going back to work. To be honest, I was having a rough time with many things in life but returning to work was the biggest of the weights on my sholders. The logical side of me knew that I needed to go back to work. We needed the money to be able to eventually accomplish the goals we have for our family and there was no reason for me to HAVE to stay home. But I just couldn't come to terms with it. I wanted to be home with my baby. I couldn't stand the idea of leaving at 6am every morning (before he even wakes up) and not getting back until after 4 every afternoon. Then I knew the work load that goes along with my job would mean that the time I was spending with Ryan would be compromised by grading papers, lesson planning, and doing school preparations.
Anyway, I was feeling totally frustrated and hopeless and knew something had to change. After many conversations... and heated arguements... my husband and I decided it was best for our family for me to extend my leave of absence from teaching. My return to work date is now February 1, 2012. In the mean time I needed to find some ways to make money! The best solution for us was for me to go back to being a hair stylist.
Here is the new plan. Mike is currently transforming the garage into an at home salon. I am going back to take some refresher courses on haircutting and coloring. I am also really trying to spread the word about my new "business." I do have a pretty good client base to start that I have been working with while teaching, but I need that to double! In addition to working with hair, I am also trying to get some part time gigs as an English tutor. So basically I think I now officially fit into the work from home category. I spend my days coming up with ways to market myself, researching part time work opportunities, scheduling appointments, creating a business plan, etc. and then I spend many evenings actually doing hair. At this point I am not tutoring, but I am actively working on that. I have many goals (how many clients I need, how much money I need to make) and I am really working to hard to make this work. I would love to be able to stay in this work from home mom category. I believe its the best way for me to spend time with my son AND help earn some money that will go towards our family goals.
Wish me luck! Any suggestions on how to make this profitable are welcome!
Anyway, I was feeling totally frustrated and hopeless and knew something had to change. After many conversations... and heated arguements... my husband and I decided it was best for our family for me to extend my leave of absence from teaching. My return to work date is now February 1, 2012. In the mean time I needed to find some ways to make money! The best solution for us was for me to go back to being a hair stylist.
Here is the new plan. Mike is currently transforming the garage into an at home salon. I am going back to take some refresher courses on haircutting and coloring. I am also really trying to spread the word about my new "business." I do have a pretty good client base to start that I have been working with while teaching, but I need that to double! In addition to working with hair, I am also trying to get some part time gigs as an English tutor. So basically I think I now officially fit into the work from home category. I spend my days coming up with ways to market myself, researching part time work opportunities, scheduling appointments, creating a business plan, etc. and then I spend many evenings actually doing hair. At this point I am not tutoring, but I am actively working on that. I have many goals (how many clients I need, how much money I need to make) and I am really working to hard to make this work. I would love to be able to stay in this work from home mom category. I believe its the best way for me to spend time with my son AND help earn some money that will go towards our family goals.
Wish me luck! Any suggestions on how to make this profitable are welcome!
Fall Fun
The only thing that makes the end of Summer tolerable is that it is followed by Fall. I love the fall. I love the cooler weather, opening the windows for fresh air, pumpkin spiced coffee and beer, Halloween decorations, the change in the color of the leaves, playoff baseball, start of football season, pumpkins, and of course my birthday. Here is my list of things I want to do this fall:
-Go apple and pumpkin picking
-Try lots of different pumpkin beers (I missed them very much when pregnant last year)
-Bake apple treats like apple crisp and homemade apple sauce
-Go on lots of walks to take in the nice weather and beautiful colors
-Carve pumpkins
-Dress Ryan up in his Halloween costume and take lots of pictures
-Do a fall photo shoot in the leaves with Ryan
-Work out!! I am motivated!
-Totally unrelated to the fall, but I want to really market my hair business
- And hopefully watch the Yankees play (and win) playoff baseball
After a rough spring and introduction to motherhood and then a very emotionally draining summer, I am ready for a very peaceful, fun Fall!
-Go apple and pumpkin picking
-Try lots of different pumpkin beers (I missed them very much when pregnant last year)
-Bake apple treats like apple crisp and homemade apple sauce
-Go on lots of walks to take in the nice weather and beautiful colors
-Carve pumpkins
-Dress Ryan up in his Halloween costume and take lots of pictures
-Do a fall photo shoot in the leaves with Ryan
-Work out!! I am motivated!
-Totally unrelated to the fall, but I want to really market my hair business
- And hopefully watch the Yankees play (and win) playoff baseball
After a rough spring and introduction to motherhood and then a very emotionally draining summer, I am ready for a very peaceful, fun Fall!
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