A few more pics of our Fun Day.

A little piece of Heaven

Sadie really took to Josiah.  This pic is too cute!

Can you see the pure excitement?!?!

I think Landon is trying to sit on it.

Adorable!

Love the face!!

I experienced something this morning that I have not experienced in a long time...a run by myself!!  No kids telling mommy "i don't want to go fast!"  No sippy cups or snack bags being thrown on the ground.  No one yelling, "i want to go to the tot lot!" or "i want to go see the turtle!"  So maybe I'm exaggerating a bit when I say "a little piece of heaven," but by golly...it was nice!!  I believe the last time I ran alone was while living in Burlington, KY before I was pregnant with Landon & Sadie.  Too long!!

I hope you all had a nice Memorial Day.  We did!  We spent ours in Tampa.  We left about 9am and got home around 10:30pm.  Greg went golfing with my brother Tim and Cheyenne Jenkins, who is one of the partners in Tampa.  The kids and I spent the afternoon with Aunt Jess & Josiah Jenkins at the aquarium.  We looked at some fish and other animals, then had fun at the water area.  While playing in the water I noticed a lady who works for the aquarium taking tons of pictures of Sadie and Landon.  Later she came up and said "I've been taking pictures and noticed you were too.  I'm sorry.  Here's a card, you can look at them in about 45 minutes."  I pointed out Duke and told her all 3 were mine, and that I didn't mind her taking the pictures.  (i'm not sure why she apologized)  She went on to tell me how cute they were...I was beaming, of course!  After that she started taking pics of Duke and even more of the other two.  I thought it was pretty neat.  I haven't had a chance to look at them online yet.  I didn't get many of Landon.  He would never look up at me.  Plus it was a little difficult with all that water spraying around and trying to keep up with 4 kids!  

That evening we all went over to Alec & Melissa Rankin's for a cookout.  (he is the other partner)  The kids were very good and had a blast.  The Rankin's have a dog, so that was much excitement for Landon, Sadie, & Duke.  Here are some pics from our fun day.

 

My Messy Boy

After eating a chocolate ice cream bar...

My Sweet Boy

Silly faces!

Landon is the most sweetest, sensitive, lovable boy.  If you are holding him or he's sitting on your lap, he likes to rub your arm or back or at least be touching you.  He also requests "massages" for pretty much every nap and night time.  (thanks to aunt kristy!)  Even in the middle of the night as I'm carrying him back to bed he will say, "mommy, massage me."  He's starting to say cute, encouraging words and phrases now to his siblings.  Just this morning as Sadie did her flip on the rings Landon clapped his hands and said, "Good job Sadie!"  Or when talking to Duke he'll say, "You can do it Duke."  He also has started to say he "loves" everything.  It may be a person or it may be his choice of cereal.  His most recent "love" comment was just too funny!  As I'm changing his diaper he proceeded to play with himself as most boys his age do.  I told him to stop and he said, "mommy, I love my pee-pee."  It was one of those moments where I really had to keep myself from laughing.  As his mother I'm not so sure if I prefer my son to have such a bond with his "pee-pee."  I just love this boy...he makes me laugh everyday!  

Surviving without Daddy

We are getting by without daddy home, but counting down the hours!  Only one more day.  First thing this morning Sadie said, "I want daddy to come home."  She constantly wants to call him.  (and everyone else too!)  She's quite the phone talker.  We've been keeping busy though.  Last night was fun.  We went to the Tot Lot to play.  There were a couple kids there.  The girl 6th grade and boy in 2nd.  The girl loved the kids and played very well with them.  It helped me out too.  Sadie caught a lizard single-handedly, and they had a blast playing with it.  Each of them got to hold it.  She is scared of ants, but has no fear of lizards!  We took a stroll down to see the neighborhood gopher turtle.  We finally caught it out of its hole (a rare occasion).

By 10:30 this morning we had already went on a run, played at the tot lot, and "swam" in the pool.  A busy morning...hoping for long naps!   I was a bit frustrated during the run.  I can't count how many times I had to stop to pick up cups.  I just got to thinking about how every little thing I do 24 hours a day involves a kid next to me (especially when greg is out of town).  I can't shower, go to the bathroom, exercise, eat, watch tv, talk on the phone, grocery shop, do the banking, or sleep by myself.  I get maybe one hour of alone time a day.  I guess it's just wearing me out.  I don't want to complain...I love my kids dearly...it's just a bit exhausting at times.  

Time to change diapers and get them down for naps.  I'll post more pics later.  

Fun Fort Times!!

A view from inside the fort.

Peeking through.

Nice cheesy smiles!!

We've had a good start to our days without daddy.  He left around 10am.  It was slightly raining, but we (i) decided to go on my run anyway.  I already had their cups and snacks ready.  I hadn't even looked outside.  Greg helped put the cover on the stroller and we were off.  I've got two runs in this week, so keeping on schedule.  I'm feeling better each time, but can't keep a good accurate time since I'm frequently stopping to pick up cups or snack bags.  I'm averaging around 27-28 minutes.  Fine with me.  I'm not in a hurry, I just want to exercise.  One day I would love to run a half marathon...maybe after the kids are in school.  We got back from our run and decided to build a fort.  It's been overcast and a little rainy, so figured I better come up with some fun stuff to do inside.  I moved the couch around, brought in kitchen chairs, blankets, and pillows & POOF...a magical fort!!  The kids loved it!!  Here are some pics to show their fun.  

Carol "Grams" Taylor

Landon & Sadie's 1st birthday party, July 2006.

Our visit in April 2008

This post is dedicated to Greg's grandma.  She passed away yesterday afternoon.  She was a wonderful woman who would do anything for her family.  She will be greatly missed.  May she rest in peace and enjoy the reunion with her husband, Don "Duke" Taylor.  Greg will be flying to Ohio on Thursday and returning home on Sunday night.  Please pray for his safety as he travels and for his family during this difficult time.

Mommy & her kids

Mommy was not quite ready yet.

Duke just wanted to jump.

A good one, but it turned out really light.  We tried to fix it.

Today was like "mother's day sunday" for us since no one was sick, and we were able to go to church.  Here's a few pictures of us trying to get a good picture together!  A little tough to do!  It was a good day.  We stopped at a mall so Greg could pick up a phone from one of his stores.  We decided to eat lunch there.  The kids did pretty good besides Sadie spilling milk all over the place.  We managed to keep them awake on the ride home, so we all had a nice nap time.  Rarely happens!  After dinner the kids and I bake homemade chocolate chip cookies together.  Again, things were going smoothly until Duke dumped baking soda all over him, the chair, and the floor.  Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Slideshow

I added a slideshow of the first month of our kids' lives.  It's always fun going back and looking at old pictures.  It amazes me how much they can change in such a short time.  Those first months are so precious, even though it's all a blur to me now!  Enjoy!!

It's been a rough one.

Today has not quite been as easy-going as yesterday was.  I  guess it started with the night time.  Sadie woke around 3 maybe, i'm not sure.  Whenever she wakes up from anything...nap or bed, daytime or nighttime, she starts screaming for mommy at the top of her lungs.  As she's running through the hall screaming, she wakes up Landon who then joins her in the dead sprint to mommy & daddy's room.  Greg and I have been doing much better at putting them back in their own beds and not allowing them to sleep in ours...so that's what we did.  At 3:45am Landon comes back in our room.  He curled up next to me and it was so tempting to let him stay.  I turned to Greg and said "your alarm is going to go off in a half hour" hinting for the ok to just let Landon stay.  Greg said "fine."  I laid there for about 30 seconds then (thanks to encouragement from anyssa) I took Landon back to his bed.  Greg is up at 4:15am and gone around 5am.  Landon makes it back to our room again around 5:30am.  This time I let him stay.  At 6:30 Sadie joins us.  At 7:30 Landon wakes and 5 minutes later Duke is up...and the morning begins.  I am going on almost 3 years of interrupted sleep.  Not all nights are like this, but seems that most nights at least one kid is waking up and we have to put them back in bed.  I think this is where I get my headaches.  

We went to the bank this morning.  (just the drive-thru, of course)  On the way back the kids wanted to go to the park.  I recently found one that is across the road from us.  It's newer and has a dog park.  The equipment is nice, but is normally dirty with leaves and cobwebs cause it's not used often.  Sadie climbed to the top, but then got scared and wanted down.  I told her to slide.  Halfway down she started screaming a blood-curling scream!  I'm asking her what is wrong.  She slides the rest of the way, I grab her and she's saying, "Fider web, mommy!  Fider web!"  Let me translate...spider web.  I think she's going to be just like her mommy...petrified of spiders.  We didn't stay long, but stopped by the dog park before leaving.  They love looking at the dogs, especially Duke.  When we got home we went straight to the backyard.  I think we may have walked through some poison ivy or oak, so I wanted to do a wash-down of the feet, legs, and hands.  I stripped them to their diapers and they played in the pool awhile longer.  (the pics)

Lunch went great, then nap time began.  At 12:40 I laid Duke in bed.  He's normally very good at going to sleep on his own.  Next I put Landon down and then Sadie.  Since moving Sadie thinks I have to be right next to her bed til she falls asleep.  If I tell her I'm going to leave her room she immediately starts crying.  It's getting rather annoying.  This week I have started sitting in her doorway for naps at least.  I can also see Landon's bed from there, so it works.  She was asleep by 1:00.  Landon still tossing and turning and Duke was still awake too.  He started fussing a bit, so I went in to try to help him get to sleep.  Within 10 minutes he was almost there and Sadie starts screaming.  She runs out of her room in search for mommy.  By the time she makes it back Duke is now wide awake and Landon is up.  I put Sadie back in bed and tell her I'm just in Duke's room (which is right next to hers) and I'll be in soon.  Duke is now screaming as well.  I step in Landon's room and tell him to go to sleep, then back to Duke.  He is trying hard to get to sleep, but can't cause Sadie will not stop crying.  If I walk out of his room to console Sadie, then he cries.  A never-ending cycle!!!  I'm about to lose it.  At 1:35 I've had enough.  I walk out to the couch and sit.  Both Duke and Sadie are screaming.  5 minutes later Sadie comes out to sit on the couch with me.  She looks up and says through her sobs, "I want to poop on the potty and pee."  I was like WHAT??  (the potty training is not going well, so i'm thinking where did this come from?)  I asked her why and she said "so i can get an m&m."  I take her to the potty and tell her to try while I go get Duke to sleep.  He falls asleep at 1:50, an hour and 10 minutes after laying him down!  Sadie does nothing on the potty and I put her in bed at 2:00.  At 2:15 she's out.  At 2:25 I hear Landon calling for mommy.  I put him back in bed.  At 3:15 Sadie is screaming.  I go in her room, she falls right back to sleep.  At 3:20 she's screaming again.  I let her come out to the couch and she falls back asleep.  Yesterday they were all out within 15 minutes.

I realize this is a lot of boring crap, but this is my life and this is my blog, so i'm writing it.  Any moms out there who have advice on what to do about a kid who screams every time they wake or how to get her to fall asleep on her own, I would greatly appreciate it.  I think I'm heading in the right direction with moving my way out of her room, but I have no clue about her screaming.  I have had numerous talks to her about this.  She will never tell me why she is crying.  I explain to her that mommy is always here.  I will always be here in the house when she wakes up.  I just don't know what to do.

Greg gets off work at 6:00 tonight, so i'm thankful he will be here this evening.  Tomorrow is a short day, off at 3:00...yeah!!  Maybe mommy should take some time for herself tomorrow night!

a BIG day!!

Part way through this morning I realized that today is a very big day.  First of all, "we" went running for the first time in 9 months!  (i'll get to that later)  Secondly, Duke is 18 months old, and last of all, today is my mom's birthday.  "HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM & GRANDMA!!"  I really can't believe my baby boy is a year and a half!  Sometimes it seems like yesterday that I was laying on that hospital bed pushing out that 9 pounder!  (maybe too much info for some)  Duke is really a great baby.  He's always been so easy-going and smiley, not to mention a HUGE momma's boy!!  I had to add some pics of my "Dukester" (as Sadie calls him) to my post today.  The first pic was from the day we took him home from the hospital, just 24 hours after he was born.  The next two are pics I took of him today.  Too cute!  

Now to my running.  I was really starting to feel like a professional as I was putting on my new Nike shoes, shorts, and tank.  But, about 30 seconds into my run the "professionalism" feeling left and I started feeling more like a lazy, out of shape mom!  I'm just lucky that I have little squirts for kids.  Landon, my heavyweight is a massive 26 1/2 lbs., Sadie 24 1/2, and bringing up the rear is Duke at 22.  A grand total of 73 lbs, plus figuring in the weight of the stroller which i'm sure is at least 20-30 lbs.  I told myself I would do 3 laps around the subdivision.  A neighbor told me it was 0.7 miles.  After the first lap I was sure she had to be off by at least 10 miles!  But...I did it and I was proud!  (It only took 27 minutes.)  We then walked to the Tot Lot for some play time.  When we got to the house I decided to throw the kids in the van to check for sure the distance of my route.  It was 0.8 miles...I told you she was off!!  So all in all I ran 2.4 miles.  Now the challenge will be to keep it up.  I would love to do it 3 times a week.  That would make me happy.  

It's almost dinner time.  Just doing the easy pizza tonight.  It's been a long day, but a good one.  Greg was gone before 5am and won't be home til after bedtime.  Breakfast, lunch, dinner, nap & bedtimes by yourself can be a bit exhausting, but all worth it when you look at their precious sleeping faces at the end of the day!  

Playing with the Lizard

I think it works!!

"I'm going on a bear hunt....I mean lizard hunt!"

Sorry, i was having flashbacks from good ole' church camp days!  Since moving to florida our kids have come up with a new hobby...lizard hunting!  Last night greg and i took the kids to a park and sure enough that's what we did.  Sadie caught one and here's the proof!  

Not much news for today.  It was the typical nose-wiping, diaper-changing day.  Hope you enjoy the video too!  

Duke saying "booger!"

So...I couldn't resist posting this one!

Happy Late Mother's Day

so i've been drawn into the blogging!  i really never thought i would, but it's been fun keeping up with every one else's and figured, "why not?!"  it might be a good way for friends and family to be updated with what's going on in our daily lives.  back to mother's day...we had a really rough night, but a good day.  i was up on and off with Landon most of the night.  we skipped out on church not wanting to expose all the other little kids to our nasty snotty noses and croupy coughs.  i was a bit disappointed.  i really wanted to go.  that morning the kids brought me their homemade cards, new running shoes, and running outfit (are they trying to tell me something?) i was excited though.  i'm in the running mode again.  i'd love to do it like the good ole' days...nice long runs by myself, time to think, time to be alone, but...times have changed and i'm sure i will be pushing that triple stroller ahead of me.  i guess it will make for a better workout.  later that afternoon we had company...my brother tim, his wife jess, my sister kristy and husband daniel.  the kids were SO excited!!  they love their aunts and uncles!!  they had a blast playing human fooz ball with the kids, jumping on the trampoline, and eating some good food.  i was really enjoying myself, not knowing what the night was bringing ahead...another sleepless night.  this time it was duke.  i have to admit, it was horrid.  he would sleep about 15 minutes, then wake up crying, roll around for awhile, then back to sleep.  this went on ALL night.  monday morning it was off to the doctor again.  i took all three.  landon and duke both have ear infections, landon in both ears.  we were just there a week ago for sadie's ears.  so after about 3 and a half hours of being gone, we made it home, had lunch, and took nice long naps.  duke may have broke a record of a 4 hour and 10 minute nap!  much needed!  so anyway, things are looking better today and hope to be back to normal soon!