Birthday Details- Construction Truck Theme

I have been wanting to write this post for 3 weeks now, but I was waiting on pictures to post along with it.  My friend Jill is a great photographer and she came to the party to take pictures, your the best Jill!   Here is how I went about planning and preparing for Ryan's first birthday party.

Theme- I picked the theme because I wanted something very boyish but I didn't want to do something that he is going to ask for in a few years.  So I figured trucks are very boy but not a common request (especially not construction trucks).

Decorations-  The initial idea came from a birthday catalog.  So I went to birthday express and did some brainstorming.  I didn't just want to buy the whole birthday set, but it was a good place to start getting ideas.  From there we did the basic things like plates, balloons, constructions hats and cones.

Banners- I wanted to have the birthday banners that a lot of people are using at kids birthday parties (happy birthday, high chair banner, 0-12 month pictures).  The debate was whether I should make them myself or have them done.  I know I could have made them and they would have been fine... but I decided to contact a friend of mine from growing up and ask her to do them.  She does a great job, and these banners came out WAY better than if I did them myself.  I highly recommend Uniquely Me Design if you are looking to have decorative banners made for any occasion (you can also find her on Facebook)!  Thanks Tiffany!

The Things I Made:  Now that I had the basic decorations and my banners, I had some ideas of what I could do to personalize it.  I did a little bit of research online and I found a file that contained all different things to use for a construction themed party.  You can print it all out using card stock paper and make your own decorations.  So from that file I made construction signs, the tags for the favors, labels for the water bottles, and decorations to put in with the food.

Then I wanted to do something with some of my favorite pictures from Ryan's first year, so I made a photo collage in the shape of the number 1 to hang at the party.

Food-  I kept the food pretty simple.  I ordered sandwich platters and between my mom, mother in law, and sister in law, they handled the sides and salads.  The party was at noon so I just did a light lunch.  I had beer and wine (its not a party in my family without the booze haha).  Plus I wanted to make sure everyone had room for dessert.

Cake and Favors-  My sister in law was the one to get us our awesome cake!  She found a baker by her that does beautiful custom cakes, and Ryan's turned out great!

In addition to the cake, I made home made "Dirt" pudding for dessert and chocolate cake pops for favors.  This was my first experience with making cake pops, the first round went terrible.  But once I got the hang of it they weren't so bad.  I would make them again for another occasion.  The hardest part was wrapping and tagging them after the chocolate shell hardened. 

And lastly, Gymboree had a whole construction truck clothing line this spring, so I was able to get a cute shirt that went along with the theme!

Overall, I think it was a good day.  I was disappointed about the abrupt ending but there is nothing I can do about that. 

Big Boy Room

We won't be making this transition for a long time, but recently I have been thinking a lot about how I want to decorate Ryan's "big boy room."  Maybe its because I did a gender neutral nursery, I am anxious to give him a little boy room.  I have a vision in my mind of what I like, but I can't really find it online.  I like the navy blue, white, and a red accent color scheme.  I am thinking boats, sailboats, whales, nautical... something like that would fit this color the best.  When I search this idea online, I find a lot of create crib bedding and nurseries that are decorated like this, but not much for an older boy. 

I want to be able to find some of these links in the future so I will list them here for future reference.  These are all for crib bedding, but at least its the right idea.
http://www.target.com/p/Sail-Away-by-Bedtime-Originals/-/A-13540460

http://www.potterybarnkids.com/products/speedboat-2-bedroom-set/?pkey=e%7Cboats%7C20%7Cbest%7C0%7C1%7C24%7C%7C11&cm_src=PRODUCTSEARCH||NoFacet-_-NoFacet-_-NoMerchRules-_-

http://www.landofnod.com/baby-crib-bedding/kids-bedding/sail-on-crib-bedding/f9956

This is a blog about doing a "Ships Ahoy" bedroom:
http://designdazzle.blogspot.com/2009/09/ships-ahoy-its-boys-room.html


Who knows, I'll probably change my mind several times between now and when we actually do the change, but there is no harm in looking around.  I think at this point I know more about what I don't want than I do about what I do want.  If we go with boats or nautical, I don't want pirates!  And I want to try to avoid anything thats too cartoony.  I like the idea of old fashion sail boats and a beach house kind of feel.  We will see what actually happens.

Happy Birthday, Ryan!!

We figured out very quickly that Ryan likes to give me a run for my money, keep me on my toes.  He loves giving me a story to tell.  I should not have been surprised that we ended up in the ER 3 hours into his 1st birthday party!  Before the trip to the hospital, it was a great day... so lets start with that.

The day started with Mike and I going in to wake up Ryan and sing happy birthday.  He just sat in his crib looking at us like we were nuts.  We quickly got up and dressed and ready and headed over to my parents house to get ready for the party. 

The party was at my parent's and started at 12.  We went with the construction truck theme which was a lot of fun to do.  I'll talk about all of the details of the party and the theme in the next blog post.   Ryan has lots of people that love him, so it was a very crowded party.  My family and Mike's family were there, Pop Pop, Nan, some of my  aunts, uncles, and cousins, and LOTS of Ryan's new friends. It was a bit crowded and overwhelming with all of the people, but it was great to see so many people who wanted to come and celebrate with us.

It was pretty much your typical 1st birthday party.  We had a kids room full of babies (I think it was 10 babies under 2 years old), we all ate lunch, we opened presents, and we had cake.  This is where things got interesting! 

Ryan LOVED the cake.  He couldn't get enough of it.  He was smashing his hands and face in it, eating as much as he could, and just taking it all in.  He really had fun doing the first birthday smash cake thing.  I noticed he was rubbing his face so I let my mom do the cake cutting for everyone else and I took Ryan upstairs to get him washed off and changed.  As soon as we got upstairs I noticed he was breaking into a horrible rash (or at least that's what I thought).  I got nervous and called my mom up to take a look.  By time she got upstairs, Ryan was completely broken out in hives.  His face, neck, arms, and hands were all covered in huge, red, swollen hives.  Ryan was hysterically crying and scratching his face until he was bleeding.  As the hives started to spread down his body and all over his chest, I started to panic.  My Aunt Diane is a nurse and my Uncle Scot is a paramedic, and they both thought the best thing to do was to get him to the emergency room just in case it got worse and started to restrict his breathing.  So Mike, Ryan and I jumped in the car and got him to the hospital... leaving our 40 guests behind.  At that moment, I didn't care.  We just needed to get him help and quickly.  Now the joke is that Ryan really knows how to end a party.

Ryan sobbed the whole way to the hospital.  It was not his normal cry, but a very miserable, uncomfortable cry.  The one positive is that when you walk into the Emergency Room with a screaming, red, blotchy baby, the nurses pay attention to you.  We got help very quickly.  The nurses got him back to see the doctor pretty much right away.  In the hospital, like 5 different people had to come up and ask us questions.  When they would ask what happened and I would say he had a reaction to the birthday cake, they would ask whose birthday cake he was eating.  When I explained that it was his own first birthday cake, they were shocked.  Apparently they never had a patient break out into severe hives eating their own special birthday cake before! 

The doctor gave him a shot of Benadryll pretty quickly and the hives slowly started to go away.  At this point Ryan was totally exhausted and falling asleep in my arms, but we had to stay for observation to make sure he didn't have a reaction to the meds and to make sure the hives were truly going away.  We weren't there long when we were discharged.  I kept thinking that some mom was just a few floors up, having her first baby, just like I was exactly one year before.  By time we got back to the party, the party was over and cleaned up.  The rest of the day, Ryan was pretty cranky and groggy.  Even though he wasn't himself, the hives were almost all gone. 

I went through the whole spectrum of emotions yesterday.  I was excited for my baby's birthday, scared about the rash, panicked about the spreading hives, relieved when they started going away, worried that it would get worse, sad that Ryan had to go through that pain/discomfort, and disappointed that the party I planned and worked so hard on had to end in that way.  By the end of the day I was exhausted.  The next step is to see the pediatrician on Tuesday and then go to an allergist after that to see what was really going on.

So it wasn't the birthday I had planned for Ryan, and we had some unexpected drama, but I think overall it was a good day.  Most of the party was a success and in the end Ryan was feeling better so everything turned out okay.  One thing I know for sure, we will NEVER forget Ryan's first birthday!

12 Month Update:

-He is just about to switch to 18 month clothes
- Weight:       22lbs      Percentage:      25-50%
- Just starting to transition from 12 to 18 month clothes and size 3 to 4 diapers
-Ryan is full out walking now.  He will still crawl if he needs to get somewhere very quickly, but otherwise its all walking.
-He gives the best kisses, waves to the cats, plays by himself, reads his books, "talks" on the phone, digs through his toy box, and overall he is much more of a boy than a baby!
-He is talking much more.  Not real words, but strings syllables together that sounds like sentences.  When I ask him questions, he replies to me.  Even though it doesn't make sense, he is definitely answer my question.
-He can identify things.  If I ask him to get his book, he can walk over to his books and bring me one back.  If I was were is Dad, he will point to a picture of Mike.  This is crazy to me, because it really makes him seem so much more grown up.
-We are going to start transitioning off of formula bottles (not sure what we will give him instead just yet) and I am trying to give him more regular food and less baby food. 
-There is probably so much more, but that's all I can come up with right now. 

I probably won't be doing monthly updates anymore... I'll just update as exciting things happen.  Right now I feel like Ryan changes every single day but I am really LOVING  this age. 

One Year Ago

Tomorrow is my baby boy's 1st birthday!  It has me thinking about what I did the weeks before he was born, last year.  I stopped working January 28 and went on maternity leave.  That gave me 1 month home to prepare for baby.  I can remember spending hours and hours in "the baby's" room getting things ready... folding and organizing clothes, decorating, sitting in the rocking chair and imagining what life was going to be like once baby arrived.  The room has such a different feel to it now that it is Ryan's room.  We still spend lots of time in his room, folding and organizing clothes, but now he plays with his stuffed animals and books while I'm doing it. 

The month I was off from work, I would walk the mall almost every other day.  It gave me something to do, a way to get some "exercise", and I was hoping that the walking would lead to an easier labor (apparently it worked).  I also went through the typical nesting period.  I think I cleaned out every single closet, drawer, room of the entire house.  Eating pineapple and doing squats became part of my daily routine... I had heard that those things help bring on labor, so I tried it all.  Looking back, I wish I wasn't in such a rush and next time I will enjoy the waiting game instead of rushing the baby out.

For some reason, I had a feeling that I was going to go to labor in the middle of the night.  Well I was right!  I would go to bed most nights wondering if that would be the night... and then when I would wake up in the morning feeling the same, I would just think "I guess today is not the day."  I never even considered that I would go into labor during the day.  Weird, right?

Anyway, I can remember this day last year (March 2, 2011) perfectly.  I woke up around 8 am feeling very big and pregnant.  I had a 10am doctors appointment to check on my progress.  Dr. Azu did my check up and said that I was one centimeter dilated and the baby was very low.  That was exactly what the doctor had told me 2 weeks previously, so I left feeling a little bit frustrated.  I was trying to convince myself that this baby wasn't going to come for another couple of weeks, a bit closer to my due date (March 15, 2011).  After the appointment, I went to the mall for my daily walk.  That particular day I walked three miles around the perimeter of the mall.  I would get my decaf coffee and walk as quickly as a 9 month pregnant mama can walk around the mall (it was me and the senior citizens doing their power walk).

After the mall walk, I met my mom for lunch.  She knew I was starting to get bored home by myself so she would meet me for lunch frequently.  We went to Nino's pizza and I had a great meatball parm sub.  The lady at the table next to us asked me when I was due, and when I told her she got excited and said "Oooooh, that baby is going to come any day now!  Hopefully not while your eating lunch!"  Little did any of us know that Ryan would make his arrival the very next day.  Later in that evening, Mike's parents came down to take us out to dinner (yes, I ate A LOT the day before Ryan was born haha).  We went to Chili's and I had an appetizer, dinner, AND desert! 

Besides all of the eating, I did a few other weird things.  Its almost like I knew something was about to happen... but I had no reason to feel this way.  I felt great, I wasn't cramping, and I had no reason to suspect that I might go into labor.  But that afternoon, I texted Jackie to make sure she would be my contact person for the girls when the time game.  I called my mom to make sure she knew the plan for when I went into labor.  When Mike's parents went to go home that night, I joked about how funny it would be if they drove all the way home and then we called them to tell them I was in labor and they should come back down.  I asked Mike to take one more picture of my pregnant belly (I'll post the picture in a few days).  I even went to bed instead of staying up to watch a movie with Mike and said I wanted to get some sleep just in case something happened that night. 

I was right, something did happen that night...my water broke at 3:30am and Ryan was one his way!  Its almost like subconsciously I knew it was going to happen.  I always knew I was in tune with my body, but I didn't think it was like that!

Anyway tomorrow is the big day, the big first birthday party.  I have such mixed emotions.  I am so happy that he is growing and happy and healthy.  I can't wait to see what this next year will bring us.  But I'm also sad that he is growing so fast and he is no longer my little baby.  I miss the newborn moments so much already.  That little boy has stolen my heart and I absolutely love him.  One year old is going to be great.  I am really enjoying this stage!

Busy Busy

I have been totally slacking on my blog posts.  We have tons going on, and tons that I want to blog about but I feel like I can't get caught up on my "to-do" list and my blogging keeps getting pushed down the list.  Here are a few little things that are keeping the Taynor's so busy.

- I spent January planning my mom's surprise 60th birthday party.  Between planning, invites, food, errands, decorations, etc  I felt like all I could think about was the party.

-Ryan's first birthday is next Saturday (Oh My God!!) so the month of February has been spent planning his party.  It is going to be construction truck themed and I have a bunch of cute decorations to go along with it.  I'll post more details about the party when its over and I have pictures to share.  But same as the 60th... party planning takes a ton of time so that is currently my priority.

-Mike is working a ton.  He finished his real estate class and passes his test.  Next step is to start looking for an agency to work part time.  His full time job is super busy too.  He normally leaves by 8-8:30 am and doesn't get home until 6pm.  Most days we are two ships passing in the night... I wish we had a little more "family" time.

-Work for me has been very busy.  This week I worked 25 hours in the office, 10 hours at home, and did hair for 11 people.  I am really loving what I am doing...but I'm exhausted.  I have had to push aside all the things I want to be doing to fit in all the things I have to do (no fun).  But I can't complain because the money is good and we really need that right now!

-I got a new jogging stroller for Valentines day... now I just need to get outside and use it.  Today is going to be beautiful, so hopefully I can find a half hour to get outside for a run after Ryan's pm nap and before my evening hair clients come.  I love the stroller and can't wait to start running much more often!

-Ryan LOVES swimming.  He splashes from the second we get in the pool until I drag him out.  I think we are going to have a lot of fun in our pool this summer.  I can't wait for some sunshine!

-We are in total budget mode.  We have been making good money, but spending a lot of it too.  We are really trying to cut back and save more.  We have so many goals for the future but we have a lot of debts (car payments, student loans, personal home loans, etc) that need to be payed off before we can do anything.  It is a daunting task and I think that is why Mike and I are working so much right now.  Hopefully our hard work will pay off and we will be able to achieve these goals.

Hmmmm I think that is about it.  Off to the dermatologist to get Ryan's poor cheeks checked out.

11 months

Yep, I'm a week late with this update!  That is how you know life has been super busy.  I can't believe Ryan's first birthday is in 4 weeks.  I don't feel like I have a one year old!

The month of January was great.  We started a mommy and me swim class, we visited Amanda and Bennett, we watched the Giants win every Sunday and eventually win the Superbowl (what a great first Superbowl for Ryan haha), and we celebrated Gigi's 60th birthday.  As I have already mentioned, Mason was born on January 22. I have been working a lot, so Ryan gets to spend lots of time with Gigi, Pops, Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Linda, Emma, Jameson and anyone else who has volunteered to babysit. 

 Here are some highlights from 10-11 months.

-Ryan has his top 2 teeth
-We are in total cranky man, teething hell...
-I am making another appointment for the Dermatologist because his Eczema is very bad again.  Spots and rashes all over his cheeks, back, arms, ankles and knees.  I feel so bad for my little man.
-He is very good at pushing buttons and turning nobs.  He loves turned our fan on and off, turning the volume on the speakers up and down, playing with the buttons on our phone, etc.  Not only is he using his fingers to do these things, he is doing it on purpose and is very aware of what will happen when he pushes the button. 
-He also loves opening and closing things... doors, hamper lid, toilet seat, toy box
-He loves finger foods and is good at feeding himself.  So far he loves puffs, steamed carrots, ground beef, little bits of cheese, cooked apples, pieces of meatballs, sweet potatoes, and bananas
-He is babbling much more, still no official words but we here mama, dada, yea, hi in his babbling
-He is starting to actually use his shape sorter toys... I caught him putting the circle in the circle spot a few times.
-He is much better at self play.  He can entertain himself for longer periods of time. 
-His level of comprehension has changed drastically this month.  He knows why he is waving goodbye, and know how to chase a ball, can go get his favorite book when I ask, and he is well aware of when he is doing something he should not be doing.  Its amazing to watch him figure things out and make decisions.
-He LOVES his bath time.  I waited a long time for this, but he is at the point where bath time is play time... not torture.
-In addition to bath time, he LOVES swimming in the pool at the YMCA.  Of all the babies, he is by far the most excited to be splashing in the pool.  Its pretty funny to watch.
- And last but not least, he has taken his first steps... lots of them!  I can't say he is walking just yet.  But he is frequently walking from one toy to the next or taking a few steps to get to what he wants.  I think he will be officially walking at any time.

I will continue to describe Ryan as a VERY active boy with a HUGE personality.  He is always on the move and always getting into something.  The more I spend time with other babies, I realize how active he really is.  Most other babies seem so quiet and relaxed in comparison.  He can also through a major temper tantrum, screaming, crying, throwing his body on the floor for what appears to be no reason at all.  Meltdowns happen a few times a day.  Night time is cranky time again... the hour of 5:30-6:30 is pretty rough.  But mornings and mid day are great... lots of smiles and laughs and cuddle bug moments.  We have lots of fun every day, this stage is the best because you can actually play with them!

That's about it for this month.  I need to go and start planning this 1st birthday party!

11 Month Photo Shoot

Mommy and Me photo shoot with Noah and Kelli

More than the Baby Blues

I have been thinking about/wanting to write this post for a long time, but I never knew exactly what I wanted to say.  As we are getting closer and closer to Ryan's first birthday, I finally decided that I just need to write it before it becomes a distant memory.  My very best friends, and some family already know that I was one of the many mom's that was diagnosed with Postpartum Depression.  This is a very personal thing I went through... something I didn't want to admit to my husband, my friends, or even myself.  The only reason I wanted to write this all out is because I want to be able to refer back to this when I have another baby.  Who knows if I will go through it again with future children, but in case I do, I want to be able to recognize the signs and get help sooner.  So here is the break down of my experience.

Right after Ryan was born I had what I would call the "Baby Blues".  Totally sleep deprived, stressed, agitated, overwhelmed... normal for new moms, right?!  The problem came along when it didn't get better, it just kept getting worse.  There were many days when all I could think about was that I made a mistake.  Looking back this breaks my heart!  I hate to even admit it out loud, but I promised I would be 100% honest to myself.  I felt like it was a huge mistake to have gotten pregnant and now have a baby.  My life was over, it will never be the same (in a bad way), things were so good before and I ruined it by having a baby.  These feelings had nothing to do with Ryan specifically, just being a mom in general.  Unfortunately, this was just the start of the PPD.  As you know, Ryan was a very difficult baby for the first 4-5 months.  Many days he would cry, and I would just walk around crying with him.  We just cried and cried and cried.  I would call my mom and just say "I can't do this anymore" and she would drop what she was doing and show up just so that I could step away.  Mike and I would fight all the time... he would try to help, but in my eyes he couldn't do anything right.  I didn't know how to talk to him or express how I was feeling. 

Panic attacks were a regular thing, crying happened many times a day, and I felt completely OVERWHELMED with even the simplest daily tasks.  I think things hit rock bottom in the middle of July, so Ryan was 4 1/2 months old.  He was slowly starting to get better, cry a little bit less, sleep a little bit more... but I was not feeling any better.  All I wanted to do was sleep, all day every day.  I felt utterly exhausted and miserable most of the time.  I would try to put a smile on my face when we went out with our friends or family, but all I wanted to do was stay home in bed.  Actually, I wanted to go to the beach by myself, or read a book by myself.  I just wanted to be alone.  No friends, no babies, no husband.  With going back to work in the near future... I finally went over the edge.  I had complete break downs multiple times a week.  Most days Mike would leave for work as I yelled and cried about how life sucked.  Any suggesting he came up with to help me feel better, I shot down.  I was feeling completely hopeless.  I would day dream about just leaving.  Taking a bag of personal items and just getting in the car and going somewhere.  But then I would snap out of it and be devastated with myself for even thinking those thoughts.  I didn't want to go back to work, but I couldn't stay home by myself all day...there was nothing that was going to make me happy. Looking back, it is so obvious that I needed help.

A couple of things finally happened the beginning of August that eventually lead to my "recovery" (I don't know what else to call it).  First of all, I finally called a psychologist.  My first appointment, I literally cried hysterically the whole time, getting a few mumbled thoughts out between the tears.  She asked if I was anxious, sad, hopeless, overwhelmed, desperate for change...yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.  We decided at that time that I would come and see her at least once a week for as long as necessary.  She also recommended I see a doctor and get on medication.  She really believed that PPD was a combination of many different things, and a combination of meds and therapy would be the best way to feel better.  Those who know me, know that I hate meds!  I was not at all happy about taking medications, but again, I was desperate to feel better.  So that was my treatment plan... every Monday I went to see the psychologist and I started on a low dose anti-depressant.  I will admit it, the combination worked well.  Within about a month I was starting to feel better.



In September (Ryan 6 months) I was feeling better, but not myself.  One day the psychologist asked me to describe myself and I told her I was normally outgoing, talkative, happy, social, and I was a great multitasker.  She then told me that she had not seen any of those characteristics from me since being in therapy and she wanted to help me get them back.  This was a big kick in the gut...it proved to me that I wasn't myself.  I continued the meds, and continued therapy, and continued my search for a new career option.  I had good days, great days, and very bad days. 

Things got better.  By November I had weened off of the meds and I had "graduated" from the psychologist and I felt like Shannon again.  Life was good, Ryan was great, and I woke up feeling happy on most days.  Mike and I were doing much better and I was actually excited about time with my friends.  On a side note, that was also a huge help.  Mike and I would plan date nights, I made the extra effort to go out with the girls, we got babysitters (sometimes even overnight) so that we could do some of the things we loved to do without worrying about getting home.  I finally felt like I could combined my old life with my new life.  Other mothers may thing I am crazy, but I need that me time... I have to be Shannon the person so that I can be Shannon the mom.  I think I have found a great balance of being a mom, a wife, and a friend. 

So the bottom line... Ryan is the love of my life (along with Mike) and I am sooo lucky to have such a wonderful, beautiful baby boy.  I do feel guilty that we had such a rocky start, but I can't change the past.  I am thankful that I did get help and didn't try to fix it myself.  I was obviously doing a terrible job getting better on my own.  And I would recommend anyone who is going through similar emotions to also go for help.  Yes I am not proud of it, but PPD is the real deal.  I am a better person now because I got the help I needed.  Sometimes its more than just the baby blues.