My TaylorMade Family

New Year, New Rules

noreply@blogger.com (Susie) — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 15:05:00 +0000

Ok, so 2011 was not my year to blog. It's a new year, so I'm really going to try this year to blog more often.

To help me stay focused, here are some new year's resolutions for me:

1. Lose weight, get healthy.
2. Exercise semi-regularly.
3. Spend more quality time with the family.
4. Finish small projects around the house.
5. Shop smarter & budget better.
6. Blog more often.

1. Lose weight, get healthy: I've been needing to do this for a while, but I am seriously motivated now. I'm only down 15lbs from when I had Davis, and he was a 10lb baby, you do the math. 5lbs in almost 2 years is just... sad. So I'm on it. Goal #1: Down 20lbs by my birthday (4 weeks). I'm doing a plan that was offered to me for free to evaluate, so on that plan, its a completely reasonable goal. We shall see. I may be grumpy/hungry - just ignore it.

2. Exercise semi-regularly: I bought a treadmill last year and haven't used it nearly as much as I should have. I want to use it a minimum of 2x per week (I'm trying to be reasonable here!) I eat generally healthy, but think I would feel so much better if I just took some time for myself and walked on the treadmill for 30 min or so.

3. Spend more quality time with the family: 'We never do anything fun' is what Flint said, so we both resolve that we will do this more. It will be easier since Davis is getting older. When there is a fun event, we're going!

4. Finish small projects around the house: This includes fixing my picture frames & hanging, repainting downstairs & our bedroom & finishing the built in cabinets. Yes, those are actually small projects to us, considering in 2011 we laid tile floor in the kitchen & dining room, laid sod in the front yard, and put the built-ins in.

5. Shop smarter & budget better: This is pretty self explanatory, but I just didn't do a great job of coupon shopping. This resolution will also involve being better at meal planning. Less eating out. Buying on sale with coupons. You know, no-brainer stuff!

6. Blog more often: No, really - I'm going to try!

Booger is MOBILE!

noreply@blogger.com (Flint) — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 16:51:00 +0000

Thanksgiving, Christmas, January and the in-between....

noreply@blogger.com (Susie) — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 03:24:00 +0000

Please forgive me for being so late. I've been REALLY busy!

We went to VA for Thanksgiving. Drove up EARLY on Wednesday morning, arriving in Wytheville around 9:30 I suppose. I can't remember that far back! Thursday was spent with my family - lunch at my sister's house. After that, we stopped by to see Flint's mom for a little while, and then back to Jettie's for the evening.

Friday we ventured to Blacksburg to go to the Hokie store and get some gear for Christmas presents. We also stopped in Christiansburg to see Larry & Linda (Flint's former boss and his wife). They are like another set of parents to Flint (and me a little bit). They are just awesome - Linda is the artist that is responsible for the art of Edin and of Davis. Linda is such an amazing artist - check out her work here: http://www.lindasartstudio.com/ If I could get my act together, I'm planning to send her another photo of Davis' newborn photo shoot for a charcoal or pencil drawing of him to match Edin's.

Saturday I went over to Granny's house with Dad & Jeannie to go through some of her things. We got quite a bit done for the few hours that we were there, but there is still a long ways to go. I still miss her. She was one-of-a-kind like nobody even knows, but she was my granny, and I loved her very much. Sometimes it still hasn't set in.

After watching the Hokies kick some UVA butt that afternoon, we packed up the car and headed home right at bedtime. That worked out so perfectly - no screaming in the car at all! I think we'll do that from now on!

Sunday night, after the kids went to bed, we put up the Christmas tree. Edin was SO excited on Monday morning, and so far, the barricade we have made is working. We'll see if it sticks. Just got to keep Edin out of the ornaments!

One of Edin's Christmas presents (joint present from Granny & Pappy) was to go see Toy Story 3 on ice. She loved it!

We watched the CMA awards, and have had to keep it on the DVR. Edin loves to dance to it - especially Sugarland (check out the butt shaking!):

My dad came down the weekend before Christmas - the initial reason he came was so that he could babysit for us while we went to the awesome company holiday party (Casino night - I planned the event!). At Thanksgiving, he decided that he could use that time to help us learn how to tile, and tile our half bath! I love the way it came out!!!

Edin was all too happy to get a few Christmas presents early from Papa.

After about 3 weeks of fighting her about the ornaments, and about 5 broken ones, we took the ornaments off the tree. She was sad the next morning, but it was so much better. I think we'll do that next year. No ornaments. Also didn't put the presents under the tree until the night before Christmas Eve. That really worked out well!

We were so excited to have Flint's grandparents (Mop & Pop) come down to celebrate with us! It was the first time Pop had been down here, so we were very glad he came (since we've been in this house for almost 3 years now!).

Santa left her an easel, desk, chair and art set!

Davis wasn't quite as thrilled with his socks from Santa. Loved his look in this picture.

Pop holding Davis. Too cute.

We took the tree down the day after Christmas. We were just really tired of fighting with Edin to stay out of it. The day after Christmas, it started to snow. I wish the snow had been a little earlier to have a white Christmas. Reesie wasn't too fond of it, but Edin loved it!

Edin built this snowman all by herself!

Daddy built her an igloo!

He even put a window in the back!

On a surprising note, I kind of stayed up to ring in the new year, for the first time in like.... 5 years? Actually... I made it to 11:25 or so, then headed to bed. Davis cried at 11:45, and after I put him back down, I just decided to stay up and actually see the ball drop. Then my head dropped back on the pillow.

After having so much vacation time around Christmas, it was really hard to get back in the swing of things and go back to work. After some nice wintry weather, things finally calmed down, and Edin went back to preschool.

We went back to VA to visit over the MLK holiday weekend. A rather short trip, but it was fun - there was still some snow on the ground, so Flint took Edin to ride her sled for a while. If we can catch a good snow happening over a weekend, we'll try to come back another weekend so she can sled more. She loved it.

After that, mayhem basically swallowed my downstairs. It was time to dismantle the kitchen floor in preparation for the new tile floor. After getting a good grasp on the tile from the 1/2 bath, we were ready to get rid of the hideous kitchen floor that I've despised for over 2 years.

Here's the before and after photos - they speak for themselves!

Quite possibly the ugliest floor ever. Not sure what the people that picked it out were smoking.

Just with the vinyl ripped up. Looks 10 times better already!

We spent like 4 hours figuring out exactly where our lines would be and making sure they were right. It paid off in the long run!

My beautiful floor!!! Love, love love it!

What happened next, but my lovely 30th birthday. Yep - no longer a 20-something. It was not bad though - I've had a great 30 years with a lot to show for myself. I took the day off work and spent some time on myself. I went to the mall, then had a 3 hour spa visit (pedicure, facial, massage), then went to see a movie by myself. Watching a movie by myself in the theater is soooo relaxing - I think I'll make that a monthly treat for myself!

I have the best husband on the planet. He made this cake for me, and decorated it - Edin told him what to draw on it, and he did it! Love him!

Now? We are planning to go to Charlotte for a little birthday weekend getaway this coming weekend. Flint asked what I wanted for my birthday. I said I wanted to go to IKEA. I'm easy to please, right? Now that I'm caught up - I'll REALLY try to stay caught up. Most of my reason for getting behind is taking the time to get the pictures off the camera, etc. Well, for by birthday, Flint got me the coolest gadget. It's a wireless SD card - so I'll be able to access the photos without having to locate the camera and take the card out, put it in my computer, etc, etc, etc. I've just now got to get it out of the packaging and start using it!!!

And just for fun... here's what happens when Davis finds Edin's markers. Awesome, right?

September to present…

noreply@blogger.com (Susie) — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 01:00:00 +0000

September 2010
September always starts off with the flea market in Hillsville. Gotta love family traditions. Luckily, this year, Dad held it together and we had NO emergency surgeries. Thank goodness! It was extremely sad being at Grandma’s house so soon after her passing. Even though she hadn’t lived there in 5 years, we all still had memories of her. Oh how she hated the flea market. I usually complain about going back to VA, but I really do enjoy the flea market. I mean, I can’t ever remember NOT being there. It’s fun that way. We were in VA for the flea market from Thursday to Sunday. Monday I was off work, but we were running around like crazy people for the start of another very busy week.

Edin started pre-school that Tuesday. She’s going to school on Tuesday and Thursday mornings for a few hours. She really loves school too! We were so excited for her to start too. She was really ready for some interaction away from Daddy, and I’m sure Daddy is grateful for some ‘only got 1 kid for a few hours’ time.

First day of preschool!

As if September hadn’t started off busy enough, I was scheduled to go to Las Vegas for work that Saturday (11th). At the airport at around 6:45 for my flight, I knew it was going to be a long week. My flight home wasn’t scheduled until Thursday, arriving around midnight. So, almost an entire week without seeing my family.

If you squint, you can see the Hoover Dam.

Vegas was a lot of fun, but a lot of work too! We stayed at the Aria in Las Vegas and it was SO beautiful! I missed everyone back home, but sleeping (uninterrupted) in a huge king size bed was SO very nice.

My room in Vegas.

My view in Vegas.

I flew over the Grand Canyon on the way home!

After I got home on Friday morning, Flint took Jettie (who had graciously came down to help him out while I was gone) back home. Drove up there and came back, same day. That’s rough. Edin was so excited to see me, and Davis has definitely been a Momma’s boy since I returned.

Shortly before I left, we were having the most difficult time with Davis, getting him to sleep. He did so well for the first 4 months or so, but he was getting up like 15 times a night (no joke). We took him to the doctor b/c we just couldn’t figure it out. Turns out, he’s completely healthy, and the doctor gave us the go-ahead to let him cry it out. We let him cry the first night, and it was instantly better. The difference? We didn’t keep him swaddled up. Apparently, my son is a stomach sleeper. Once he was able to roll over and sleep on his tummy, he was happy! So strange, since Edin has always been a back/side sleeper. Funny how they are so different on some things!

My first day in Vegas, Davis cut his first tooth. That made me feel great. Not.

October 2010
Davis is finally eating food now. He's not a fan of green beans, but pretty much likes everything else.

At the beginning of October, I went with my best friend to Wine & Design and painted this painting - it was so much fun! It turned out much better than I anticipated.

October was a fairly uneventful month. My memory is bad, but I don’t remember anything crazy happening – good or bad. A few Hokie games watched on the TV, coupled with our VT attire that day. My kids are just too darn cute.

Way too cute!!!

They had a fall festival at preschool and Edin got her face painted - so adorable!!!

Edin dressed up as a butterfly for Halloween, and Davis was a VT football player. We got so many compliments on Edin’s butterfly wings. They were actually adult size wings, so they were quite big on her, but they worked. I loved seeing the 8 to 10 year-olds with smaller wings – made my day.

Our pumpkin that we carved. Ouch - our hands hurt.

Beautiful Butterfly.

He was so good while we were trick or treating - he even napped for about 30 minutes.

November 2010
The weather down here is so gorgeous right now. We had several visitors this month – Papa, Granny and Pappy, and Jeannie, Dylan & Jalyn came down for a visit. As if crawling at 6 months wasn’t fast enough, he’s now pulling to a stand and cruising. This is all too fast for me. Edin wasn’t crawling until about 10 months, and then went straight to walking at around 11 months. Davis has 3 teeth that have cut through already, just working on one more upper tooth.

He can even crawl up stairs!

Edin is still loving school. She’s also very excited to come to VA to visit everyone. She's doing so well! The other night she drew this 'goat' on the dry erase board. I'm not an expert, but it looks pretty good for a 3 year old to draw this!

Let’s see if I can keep this caught up for the rest of the year (and from then on too!)

Only other thing to mention is that I recently became a Scentsy consultant.
My Scentsy website: https://susietaylor.scentsy.us/ or go to my Facebook Fan Page. Contact me if you need any Scentsy!!!

Late Blog #2 - August 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Susie) — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 00:48:00 +0000

I’m so glad August is over with. It was so incredibly hot this year. Hotter summers and colder winters, right? Sure, global warming doesn’t exist. At the beginning of August, my mom and Grandma Ellen came down to visit. Edin was so excited! We took the opportunity to take her out to a Durham Bulls game and left Davis with my mom and Grandma. Other than the fact that we had been gone less than 30 minutes and Davis decided to poop all over himself, requiring a bath, I think they had a good time with him.

And finally, we got our angel child back. Its not that she has been bad since Davis came along, but she definitely has done things to get our attention, usually in the form of not listening to us, or acting crazy hyper or something else. At the ballgame, she was AMAZING! She sat with us, and didn’t ask to run around or anything. She walked right with us, instead of trying to run ahead. I mean, I really didn’t see until then how big of a change she has had to go through with sharing Flint and I with Davis. Don’t get me wrong, she definitely LOVES her little brother. She plays with him all the time and has never tried to hurt him at all. But she definitely tried many different tricks to get us to pay more attention to her!

We had some family pictures taken by a friend of mine this month. Here are some of my favorites:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2065435&id=1003181063&l=c432f24eda

In the latter part of August, my Grandma Coulson passed away suddenly from a heart attack. Though it was quick, it still hurt quite a bit for us.

We also took the whole family to a Durham Bulls game at the end of the month – got this super cute photo of Davis:

Late Blog #1

noreply@blogger.com (Susie) — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 02:37:00 +0000

July, 2010
We took the kids to their 3 year and 4 month well child check-ups at the doctor at the end of July. Edin went first and was great. She wasn't scared of the doctor at all! She weighs 35 lbs and 2 oz, which puts her in the 87% for weight and 93% for height. They also took her blood pressure this time, which was adorable. A cute little miniature blood pressure thing for kids. Too cute. She had to get one booster shot, and she did surprisingly well for it. A few tears, but no meltdown or anything.

Here is a picture of them both at the doctor’s office:

Davis weighed 17 lbs 10 oz and is 26.5 inches long. That puts him in the 93% for weight and 90% for weight. He was a real trooper too with his two shots.

Edin also had her very first trip to the dentist in late July. She was actually very good for it! The dentist told her ‘No more Paci’s’ and we took them away that day. She handled it VERY well – a lot better than I was expecting, that’s for sure!

We had a nice visit with my sister and her kids also. We took the kids to get their pictures made while they were here – here is one of the two youngest cousins:

You can go to this link to see more photos of just my kids from that photo shoot: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2063472&id=1003181063&l=a4ecac0f6b

Its been extremely hot down here this year, as I'm sure you've heard on the news. There is just nothing fun about 115 with the heat index. Yuck. Those days we stay inside as much as possible!

Lots to update!

noreply@blogger.com (Susie) — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 01:34:00 +0000

I can hardly believe that I have a 3 year old, but I do. Edin celebrated her 3rd birthday on the 4th of July. My how much 3 years will change things!

Just look at her then...

And now (see below)!

We celebrated her birthday with a small party here at the house with a few friends, some pizza, and a great cake on July 3! My friend Toni made the cake and it was absolutely DELICIOUS!!! I work with Toni, but her cake business is ever-expanding. Check out Antigone's CAKE if you need a cake in the Raleigh/Durham area!

For the actual 4th of July, we got up and took Edin to the pool, and our friends Justin, Amy, and Emerson came over to join us. They also came over and we grilled out some ribs and chicken wings - truly making it the 4th! Edin and Emerson really got down on some corn on the cob though! They are too cute - and really becoming the best of friends!

That evening, we drove down to the fairgrounds to watch the fireworks. They scared Edin at first, and she ended up watching them from inside the back of the car.

Today Davis tried cereal for the first time. It will be a process, but he probably actually got a little bit in his stomach! He has found his voice and is babbling all the time now!

Incredible Art...

noreply@blogger.com (Susie) — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 17:28:00 +0000

Flint and I have been very lucky in our lives, and have met some really great people. Two of those people are Larry & Linda. Larry was Flint's boss for about 3 years when Flint worked at the ABC store in Blacksburg. Larry became like a father to Flint, and I'm so glad that we've stayed in touch with them over the last several years.

Linda is an extremely talented artist, and I'm happy to be starting my own collection of her artwork. She's done a painting of Reesie for us, given us a print of Frank Beamer and some other pieces of art. After Edin was born she surprised us with a collage piece (I think already posted on my blog somewhere) that is a life-size painting of Edin from her baby announcement picture. After that, we asked her to do a pencil drawing of a picture of Edin, and she did an amazing job. (Pretty sure I posted that one too somewhere). Well, yesterday we were so surprised to find another piece of art on our door. We were both so excited when we saw it. I could barely get the package open fast enough. When I did, I saw this amazing charcoal drawing of Davis:

Thank you so much Linda (and Larry) for these beautiful gifts that we truly treasure beyond your imagination!

FYI - please feel free to visit Linda's webpage at www.lindasartstudio.com.

I hate trying to figure out subject lines for blog posts...

noreply@blogger.com (Susie) — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 01:25:00 +0000

I missed my goal of 2 posts per month last month. I had a good reason though - we were in VA for Memorial Day weekend. Also, I was so very lucky enough to be in the delivery room with my sister to see the arrival of my new niece, Jalyn Alia Coulson. She was 8lbs 7oz and 21.5 inches long (EXACTLY like Edin). However, it only took like 12 minutes of pushing for Jalyn, where Edin decided to take 2.5 hours. As you can see from the pictures below, she has a head FULL of hair.

Here are the cousins - exactly 11 weeks apart!

Edin loves Jayln! She asks to see her pictures all the time!

All 4 cousins:

Edin can now effectively and appropriately use the word 'Dammit' now. Nice, right? It's not the worst thing she's heard, so I'm just thankful that its not another word. She hasn't said it in about a week now though, so hopefully she has forgotten about it!

She has trouble listening to us. What? All (almost) 3 year olds are like that? No way. She keeps asking to go to school, so we hope Flint finds a job soon. I think she'll really love daycare/preschool.

Edin still loves Davis very much. She's been asking to hold him a lot more lately.

She's made some real strides with potty training too. Sometimes she'll just go to the bathroom all by herself and just yell for us when she's done. It's awesome seeing her gain her independence. She loves to put her clothes on herself. 'I do it myself' is a regular sentence out of her mouth.

I can hardly even believe her birthday is in one week. She's almost 3 years old! Where has the time gone? She has her 3 year well child visit to the doctor at the end of July. I can't wait to see how much she's grown in the last year.

Davis is looking more and more like Edin did (at that age). It's seriously almost scary. I'll try to find an old picture of Edin for my next post and show you. Scary.

By our home scales, we figure he's right around 16lbs. I definitely get an arm workout with him! He's such a good baby though, I'm very lucky!!!

2 month checkup

noreply@blogger.com (Susie) — Mon, 17 May 2010 23:09:00 +0000

Today we had Davis' 2 month checkup to go to. I can't believe how fast time flies! Already 2 months old! He has definitely grown! His stats are:

13 lbs 15oz (gained 4 lbs since birth!) - 93%
24.5 inches (gained 3.5 inches since birth!) - 94%

The doctor is pleased with his growth! We have to go at 3 months to get an ultrasound on his kidneys since they were enlarged during pregnancy and after birth. The doctor said his growth is a good sign though - that kids with kidney disease usually have a hard time putting on weight and growing, so I'm staying positive. Next well child visit will be at 4 months though. How lucky for me that I could schedule his 4 month and Edin's 3 year visit at the same time! Woo hoo!

Flint has finished school!!! Now the job hunt is on because he's not really fond of Daddy Day Care with a newborn! Edin is a great big help though, but she really needs to be in a structured learning environment. We got her some finger paint materials (though, she's too girly to use her fingers, she prefers the brushes). She loves to paint!

Also, Davis' umbilical cord FINALLY fell off, so now he can have real baths!!! He didn't like the first one, but he doesn't seem to mind them so much now.

Here are some recent pictures! More to come later this month!

Just in time...

noreply@blogger.com (Susie) — Sat, 01 May 2010 01:15:00 +0000

I’m cutting it close this month! It was 6:30pm before I realized today was the last day of the month, and I still needed to do my second blog for April. Whew!

Yesterday we took Edin to the Museum of Life & Science in Durham. We wanted to go to the zoo, but with Davis being so young, it was just too much of a drive for us right now. We’ll probably try to go to the zoo in September or October, after it isn’t so hot.

She enjoyed the museum so much! We had talked it up for a few days so she was constantly talking about going to see the dinosaurs, the butterflies, and to ride the train. We had so much fun, but didn’t even get to see everything they had!!! Except for the fact that there were like 15 school buses in the parking lot and tons of kids and chaperones there, we had a blast! (PS – I’m really not looking forward to the 7-11 year old range) (PSS – remind me to never chaperone a field trip for either of my kids. That does not look like fun at all!)

Here are some pictures from the trip yesterday!

Butterfly Conservatory

As if walking around where butterflies are free and afterwards you have that unmistakable feeling that something just has to be crawling on you, you can view some insects like this millipede:

And Edin loved the frogs!

She saw bears too.

And rode the train. Here she’s saying ‘Choo-Choo’!!!

She played the drums on the playground too:

Lunch – here’s just a hint. If you have a foot long hot dog on your menu, you should also serve it on foot long hot dog buns. This is what my lunch looked like. No worries, it’s definitely getting sent to failblog.org.

She’s so pretty!

And sorry that there aren’t many pictures of him, but we recently discovered that he can recognize us. I can get him to smile at me!!!

Look at that – still on track for 2 blogs per month!!!

Here ya go...

noreply@blogger.com (Susie) — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 15:28:00 +0000

I’m pretty sure that it’s a known fact everywhere that I have the best husband in the world, and that he’s the absolute best father to our kids. When we got the baby swing out for Davis, Edin really wanted to get in it. You see, her absolute favorite thing to do at the playground is swinging. However, at the playground in our neighborhood, and the park playground near our house, neither one of them have a swing. Just climbing things and slides. So, her awesome daddy built her a swingset! This thing rocks, and she absolutely loves it!

Here’s some pictures from the building process, and some of Edin enjoying her new favorite thing!

Davis had a nice 2 week checkup. His weight was up to 10lbs 6oz already, which puts him in the 91% for his age. He has also grown a half an inch, and his length is now 21.5 inches, which puts him at 79% for length. He’s growing so fast and doing great! He eats well (obviously) and is enjoying more and more awake time each day! I had a friend come by to do newborn photos of him when he was 6 days old – you can see those here.

Otherwise, here are some shots I’ve taken of Davis and Edin.

We are also getting ready to prepare our garden for the year, and in doing that, we decided to move our strawberry patch to our little area beside the big garden. That is now ‘Edin’s Strawberry Patch’. She is excited about it. She helps us out watering it and honestly – we just do it to hear her say ‘strawberry’, as its positively the cutest thing ever. Last year the birds were havoc on our strawberries. This year, Daddy is being the best and protecting Edin’s strawberries. He decided to build what we are lovingly calling the ‘strawberry dominator’. See pictures below. This thing will definitely keep the birds (and everything else – including Edin and Reesie!) out! He also built in a watering hose that will mist the plants!!! I think he just likes to be outside doing ‘manly’ things and building stuff!

Our first Easter as a family of four was nice. We colored eggs for the first time with Edin. I was a little rushed and didn’t have time to have our own little egg hunt at the house, but Edin didn’t notice, so I guess she’ll forgive me later in life. Let’s hope so at least! Here’s a few pictures from our egg-coloring fun!

Welcome Baby Boy Taylor!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Susie) — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 00:18:00 +0000

I'm so very excited to announce that Davis Lane Taylor was born on St. Patrick's Day, March 17, 2010! He weighed in at 9lbs 15oz and was 21 inches long! He is a big boy! He is beautiful though!!! We now have our two holiday babies! I hope they enjoy having holiday birthdays. Flint and I believe they are the 2 best holidays to have birthdays on (if you're going to have a holiday birthday that is). So here are some pictures - I know that's what everyone is interested in anyways!

Here I am holding Davis for the first time while in my recovery room:

Here is one of Edin & Davis with me at the hospital:

Here is our new lil man:

Davis Lane Taylor

tiny baby feet:

And because she is just as beautiful as ever these days, here are some pictures of Edin:

Her 'mean' face:

And by far, the sweetest picture I have so far....

One last cute thing...

No baby yet...

noreply@blogger.com (Susie) — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 18:01:00 +0000

I've decided that my body is great at making and keeping babies, but it just doesn't understand the concept of letting the babies go. Or, my kids just get comfortable and decide not to leave - not sure which. I hope this isn't foreshadowing of what we'll face in 16-18 years. You know - trying to get the kids out of the house and off to college!!!

I hadn't really posted any pregnancy pictures of me, so I thought I'd share that with you guys now. Maybe then my complaining will be understood.

So, this is me at 39 weeks (Monday, March 8, 2010).

Lovely isn't it. Flint jokes that we wouldn't need an umbrella for Edin in the rain, she could just walk under my belly. Its funny because its true. We tried it out, and my belly/shirt would cover her head.

This child is huge though. The ultrasound estimated his weight at 9lb 9oz. Yes, those are nine's. I know they are only estimates, but geez! We're giving him another week to make things happen on his own, but if no progress has happened by next week, I'll be having an elective c-section. Based on his measurements, he looks like he'll be a short, chunky baby. We shall see. I figured there was no way I'd be able to make 2 posts in March if I waited until after he was born - so now I'll only have to do one the rest of this month! I can handle that!!

I'll post again with some baby boy and Taylor family pics!!!

Edin's first Circus!

noreply@blogger.com (Susie) — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 00:26:00 +0000

We took Edin to the Ringling Brothers 'Zing Zang Zoom' circus this week. It was so great! She stayed interested for the most part and LOVED the animals. All night she was talking about the dogs, tigers and elephants. By far, she loved the elephants the most.

This video is a little dark, but you can still see how excited Edin really was when watching the circus!

For convenience purposes, so I can access it easily when Edin asks for it, I'm including the elephant video we took!

Hey - 2 blogs in February after all! (I never said they'd be long ones!)

So close...

noreply@blogger.com (Susie) — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 01:20:00 +0000

Geez its already more than halfway through February and I haven't posted my first post of the month yet. Anyone else sensing I'm probably not going to blog 2x a month every month this year like I planned?

Baby boy is growing. Really GROWING! They did a 36 week ultrasound and estimated his size to be about 7lb 13oz. Yikes!!!

I'm pretty well stocked on everything I could possibly need! (Except diapers - do you ever really have enough of those?) Hopefully Baby Boy will come soon! This pregnancy has been pretty rough (in comparison to Edin).

I went out with friends a few weeks ago to get a manicure/pedicure. The next morning Edin noticed my fresh pedicure and said 'PRETTY!' She was so excited that I just had to make her 'PRETTY' too! She's definitely going to be a girly girl. We were worried she might walk into the walls b/c she kept watching her pretty toes when she was walking. It was too cute.

Both Mommy and Edin's 'PRETTY':

Edin sitting on her bed admiring her 'PRETTY':

She's napped twice in her big girl bed, and did well both times. It might not be too difficult after all!

We've had some crazy cold weather this year in NC. Definitely the coldest winter we've had since we moved down here. About 3 snow or ice storms this season! The most recent snow was last Friday night, so early Saturday morning we got up and Edin 'helped' Daddy build a snowman. It was the best thing I'd ever seen. I have a horrible memory, but I cannot recall ever building a snowman! Flint just rolled up the snow like he was rolling up paper or something. It was crazy. He'd roll up the snow and all of a sudden, there was grass!

I'm leaving myself with a week to make another blog post. I need some encouragement - let me know you are out there - leave a comment!!!

Cutting it close...

noreply@blogger.com (Susie) — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 01:33:00 +0000

I'm cutting that 2 posts per month close, considering its so close to the end of the month. But here it is -

Yesterday was my birthday. The last one in my 20s. That's right - I'm 29 now. Whew.

So I'll update you on Baby Boy Taylor first. Had a checkup last week and my belly is measuring 4 weeks ahead, and by ultrasound, he is measuring 2 weeks ahead. They measured him weighing around 5lbs 12 ozs. At 32 weeks. Yeah- eeeek! They'll probably do a growth scan on him at 36 weeks to see his size then, but in any situation, they won't make me go more than a couple days past my due date if I don't want to.

Here is a picture of me from last weekend:

Baby Boy is extremely active. For at least 2 hours each night, he has 'swim practice'. Not a ton of fun, but I'm happy that he is growing and getting stronger. I'll put up with it for a few more weeks!

Edin got a big girl bed over the weekend too. For now its just a mattress on the floor, and when she starts showing interest, we'll start trying to put her to sleep in it. She loves playing on it, and its a great energy burn for her (read: jumping). She looks tiny in the bed, its crazy how fast she is growing!

Nesting has begun, and I've washed all the clothes I've been given (I've been lucky and had a ton of stuff given to me for him!). I still have a few things left to get (read - stock up on diapers/wipes!), but for the most part, I'm pretty well set. I was planning on doing some shopping this weekend for things I'm missing, but we are actually supposed to get SNOW this weekend!!! Hopefully it will be enough to amount to something! Edin had a blast when we went to VA a couple weekends ago and there was enough snow left to go sledding on.

I think that about covers everything going on around here. Be back next month!

Starting off the New Year...

noreply@blogger.com (Susie) — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 16:34:00 +0000

I'm really going to try to be better about blogging in 2010. It's not an official 'resolution' but I want to write in my blog at least 2 times per month. I think that's totally do-able. We'll see. But, there is lots to catch up on.

Edin loves to play dress up. It doesn't matter if its mommy's shirt or shoes, or a fairy costume - she loves them all the same.

We got a few snowflakes before Christmas this year, but nothing that amounted to anything. We are still holding out hope for something to happen. Edin loved the snowflakes for the few minutes they fell though!

Edin got her very first haircut on December 19th. She was so good for it too! She ate her sucker and sat there for the 10 minutes or so it took. I would have tried to cut it myself, but I know better. I'll stick to cutting Daddy's hair - I'm comfortable with that! Here are some pictures from her very first haircut:
Before:

After:

Not a great big difference, but it was about 2 inches off the longest part. It’s just to let the rest of her hair catch up so we can grow it all one length, or at least have the longest layer long enough to go into a ponytail! Not a big ‘bangs’ fan here!

Edin really racked up for Christmas this year. In addition to the TV for her room, she got all kinds of things!

Santa brought her some cool plastic animal toys, a Wonderpets book, and a kid’s size water-bottle like mommy has! She loved mommy’s big water-bottle so much, Santa did a good job there!

Mommy and Daddy got her some hairbows and combs and a hairbrush, some new underwear (since she’s almost fully potty trained!) We also got her a small stuffed Wubbzy doll – she loves Wow Wow Wubbzy!

She got a Wonderpets Flyboat:

Papa got her a keyboard and a keyboard-like toy with pictures on it that when she presses it says the picture and spells it. She loves both of them, and they are both very LOUD toys. Oh well! He also gave her some cash and had a really cool t-shirt made that says ‘Taylor Made’ on it. He also had one made for baby boy, so once he gets here, I can take a picture and they’ll be my blog mascots!

Aunt Jeannie & Dylan got her a bunch of stickers and a board to put them on. She LOVES stickers!!! They also brought down some Toy Story toys, which Edin loves to scatter everywhere! But the big hit was the carousal that they gave her. She loves to watch the horses!

We still have some presents waiting on her from Granny & Pappy and ‘Motts’, but she definitely racked up this Christmas!

We spent New Year’s Day starting to get Baby Boy’s room ready. I figure I gotta start acting like this baby is coming! We still haven’t bought hardly anything in preparation. Luckily, I have great friends and family that are giving me a ton of clothes!

Here’s what Baby Boy’s room looked like before (aka Guest/storage room):

We spent all day painting the walls, painting the baseboards, and shampooing the carpet! Here is the end result. I love the color! We got the gallon of paint for $6 b/c it was a ‘mis-mixed’ can. I love that kind of bargain!

We still have to order Baby Boy’s crib sometime within the next couple of weeks, but his room is taking shape. We moved the changing table from Edin’s room to his, and I plan to start washing some of the baby clothes that I’ve been given soon.

Baby Boy Taylor is growing well. His kicks are VERY strong. He’s measuring about 2 weeks ahead of my due date, which means if that continues, they won’t let me go too far past my due date! Since we are shooting for a St. Patrick’s Day baby, that sounds great to me! I’ve had to have some additional ultrasounds because of Baby Boy’s kidneys being enlarged (they are back to normal size for now though!). At my last ultrasound, they were able to capture a 4D image of Baby Boy! My scanner isn’t working, so I had to take a picture of a picture to be able to share it.

This coming Monday puts me at 30 weeks, so I’ve got about 8-11ish weeks left!

Ok – I promise not to let it be so long before I post again!

Sorry its been so long!

noreply@blogger.com (Susie) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 01:23:00 +0000

We have been so busy here the past few months. First, some exciting news - Edin is going to be a big sister! We are expecting our second (and last!) child on March 15, 2010. We are very excited! Edin probably doesn't understand everything that's going on, but she does point to my belly and say 'baby'. Sometimes she will kiss the 'baby' too. We found out last week that this will be a little brother for Edin! He wasn't shy at all during the ultrasound. I could tell it was a boy before the tech even told us!

Edin is doing really well with her potty training, and I feel pretty confident we can get it done before the new baby arrives. She is still quite content in her crib, so we haven't even tried to transition her to a 'big-girl' bed. We plan to put a bed in her room after the first of the year and when she starts to show an interest in it, we'll go with it. Baby Boy will be in our room for the first few months, and I'm quite sure Edin won't be in her crib when she turns 3, and that's around the time we'll want him in the crib.

We took Edin to the zoo last month and she loved it! She talked about the elephants and giraffes for days! You can still ask her what the bear was doing and she'll tell you 'Shhhh....he's sleeping'. Really cute!

Edin was a ballerina for Halloween this year. It was so fun to watch her catch on to the idea of getting candy when she went up to the doors. The first 3 houses she was nervous, but then she realized she got candy, and she was ALL about it!

OK - that's enough update for now! I promise not to make it so long before my next post!

Beach Vacation: Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Susie) — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 01:46:00 +0000

Edin had a blast playing in this little triangle between the sofa and chair in our condo at the beach. It was a game that never got old (to her).

We went to the outlet mall one morning because it looked like rain, and boy did Edin LOVE the little rides they had there.

Everything was so exciting for her. I have about 30 more shots like the one above and this one:

We went for a walk on the beach to try to snap some good pictures. Edin is always so fun to take pictures of. So beautiful.

It was a beautiful evening.

Daddy & Edin

Mommy & Edin

Edin was feeling brave and stood by herself in the waves!

Daddy snapped this picture.

I love this picture. I'm going to try to play with it and turn it to black and white or something.

We took Edin to the pier one night - she loved it!

View from the pier.

More pics to come...

Beach Vacation 2009 - Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Susie) — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 20:48:00 +0000

I have a ton of great pictures from the beach, so this is only the first day's pictures. Yep - these pictures were all taken on Edin's birthday - July 4th, 2009.

We started off the morning headed to the beach. She got a smores pop tart for breakfast, and with that in hand, and sunglasses on, she was ready to go!

We had hoped that Edin would take a short nap on the way to the beach, and she was close at one point...

However, that quickly changed into a game of peek-a-boo with her blanket.

Driving to Myrtle Beach from Raleigh is so much nicer than the trips we used to make from VA. Instead of 5.5 to 6 hours, its only a short 3. The same distance as driving back to Wytheville! We drive down to Wilmington, then head to Myrtle. We went right by the Battleship. I took this picture as we were driving down - you can see the top of the ship.

She was a real trooper the whole trip - even though she didn't have a nap! Thank goodness for the DVD player in the car! I don't know how my parents did it without it!

Once we got into Myrtle, it was lunchtime. We all got down there almost at the same time, so we met at a restaurant and ate lunch. The place gave cookies with the kids meals. Once we got to the car, I gave her the cookie. It was an Oreo. I didn't even tell her how to eat it, and she took it apart and licked the inside!!!

She liked the cookie!

After we left the restaurant, and she finished her cookie - it didn't take long for her to fall asleep!

Finally! The Beach!

Edin loved playing in the ottomans that were in the condo!

She was not used to so much excitement, but she loved the fireworks show that we saw from our condo balcony. She would scream and say 'fireworks' and point up at them. She was tired though, as she didn't go to bed until after 10pm!

Had to include this great picture of the beach I took that night! Love the moonlight on the water!

Edin's 2nd Birthday party

noreply@blogger.com (Susie) — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 01:44:00 +0000

Since we'll be headed out for vacation on Edin's actual birthday, we had her party this past Saturday.

She really didn't know what to think of all the people at her party. She wasn't nearly as excited as the other kids!

We set up our water table, frog pool, and another pool that was one of her presents! The boys loved running and falling in the water and splashing each other.

I had a cake fiasco early Saturday morning. I made my cake and icing on Friday night, all ready to start decorating early on Saturday morning. It started off well enough, but when I started piping in the stars of Blue's body, the icing was just melting off the sides of the cake! I was in tears b/c that was the only other thing that was 'themed' about her party - the cake and the invitations! Flint finally convinced me to go to Walmart, and I was shocked to go in and find this cake:

Yep - a Blue's Clues cake! Blue's Clues is fairly old - only reruns go now, so its really hard to find that kind of stuff. But there it was, like a sign or something. (Yes, that plate in the corner came from our garden!!!)

Edin was a pro at blowing out the candle on the cake. I lit it several times trying to capture a picture, but she was way too fast!

Here I am cutting her piece of cake, and she's just waiting patiently!

I have to thank my good friend Stacy for these next few pictures - what great pictures!!! Classic birthday cake shot:

She didn't bother to use the spoon.

Look how beautiful her eyes are here. I really can't believe she is my child - she's just so gorgeous!!!

We unwrapped our gifts after all the guests left. She loves her princess chair!

My girl Dene' hooked up Edin with some dress up clothes. Edin had a blast with this outfit and loves her magic wand! I see dress up parties in Daddy Day Care's future!!!

Like I said before, we're headed on vacation next week, but I promise to take lots of pictures. I may be able to post some while we are down there - we'll see! I definitely have to get one of our family on her birthday - that's a must-have tradition!!!

Harvesting

noreply@blogger.com (Susie) — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 01:35:00 +0000

So we've been able to enjoy a small portion of our garden. Edin has enjoyed 2 cherry tomatoes. She says 'bite ball'. It's round like a ball, and she wants a bite. Got to give her credit there. We have a lot of cherry tomatoes that we're just waiting on them to turn red. I'm extremely disappointed so far with the 3 other regular tomato plants though. I think we have 2 that are ok, all the others have had the bottom rot out. I don't understand? The plants are all huge too!

We've had one sweet pepper that was a size that even Papa Johns would be proud to serve. I don't eat that kind of pepper, and Flint hasn't eaten it yet, so we don't know yet if its any good.

We have 2 small green peppers that are plugging along, taking forever to get big. Again, not something I eat, so I'm not really caring.

I've been extremely disappointed with the broccoli plants. The are HUGE. They take up so much room in the garden, and they've only provided maybe 6 small bunches. There are no signs of more growing anytime soon either. We're going to give it a month and if nothing re-appears, we'll likely dig it out of the garden to give our other plants more room to grow.

We finally figured out a way to keep birds from eating all our strawberries. It was insane how fast they got to them! I nailed up some black plastic chicken-type wire. It does just the trick. We've (Edin) has enjoyed about 5 medium-sized strawberries now.

I had NO idea how big the zucchini plants would grow. It's insane! I've trimmed them twice now, because they were covering my strawberries, cantaloupe, basil and cucumber plants up so no sun was getting to them! We enjoyed our first harvest of zucchini and squash last night with some hamburger-stuffed zucchini. It was good!

The second trimming:

The zucchini and squash grew so big we decided to move the basil down towards the tomatoes to an open spot, and moved the cantaloupe to the little rock wall garden beside the box. The cantaloupe perked up with all the sunshine, and hopefully we'll see something soon!

I'm hoping to see more and more zucchini pop up. It was so nice to have fresh veggies in the house without going to the store and buying them!

Edin is 23 months old today!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Susie) — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 19:53:00 +0000

I'm getting older and older, because I'm starting to say those things that my parents say. Time really flies, huh? I don't know where the last 23 months have gone - but my baby girl is 23 months old today. She's absolutely rotten, but it's great.

Here's some recent photos:

With her shades...

Ridin' the horsey...

Going down the slide...

Chasin' bubbles...

Playing in the sprinkler...

She LOVES the sprinkler!!!

Getting a kiss from Daddy...

Riding Mommy - one of her favorites!!!

Using her water table as a personal pool...

Mom's 50th Birthday

noreply@blogger.com (Susie) — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 19:32:00 +0000

Jeannie, April and I threw Mom & Teresa a surprise 50th birthday party on May 9th! They were both pretty surprised, though Teresa caught on when Greg & April were rushing to get to Grandma's! We had a great turnout, and it was so nice to see family. Since I don't go in for Christmas anymore, it had been several years since I had seen some cousins. I am not that much older than some of them, but man do I FEEL ancient. I still remember holding them when they were babies, or seeing them in their chubby phase when they were 8, or with a goofy grin, and now they are all grown up, and beautiful/handsome.

Anyways, back to the party! Mom and Teresa turned 50 on May 6! The party was a huge success! With a ton of 'Over the Hill' decor, sandwiches, fruit and cake - it was a lot of fun!

Here are the fabulous Fairview twins - 50 years young!

The cake:

The rest of the spread:

Here's Edin looking cute at the party: