We are on a roll!!

Another Big Boy Day for Taylor! Last night he went to bed with a sippy cup instead of a bottle and he didn't even drink all the water! I think it is more the cup than what is in it. He never took a pacifier, so I suppose we can deal with a sippy cup :) Also, for lunch today he ate half a cut up hot dog! Never thought I would be so excited about that, but thank goodness for small miracles. Once he realized it wasn't baby food he didn't want it, but at least he ate some of it. That's a start.

Shameless Plug

Hey everyone! I am going to start selling monogrammed items from home to make extra money. I will have bibs, burpcloths, receiving blankets, ribbon blankets, and purses. I am also going to make girl's bows in 3 different sizes. Pictures will soon follow. Please email me with any questions or if you were wanting to know about pricing.

Big Boy Day

Today Taylor had a great Big Boy Day!! I was getting ready to lay him down for his nap, and realized his bottle liners were still packed downstairs with the dirty clothes. Instead of going to get them, I attempted to lay him down for a nap with a sippy cup instead of a bottle. He slept!! Woo Hoo! He has his 18 month visit to the doctor in early March and I can't wait till they ask me if he is completely off the bottle.

Also, we walked outside to get the mail today and he held my hand all the way to the mailbox and around the pond in front of our complex! He has never been a big hand holder, so I try to practice when I can. He was even holding my hand back, not just me clutching to his for dear life.

Then his day was complete when we went to the fabric store Mommy found in Johnson City. He was in his stroller and did great. He talked to the nice ladies cutting Mommy's fabric, but he was really excited when two sorority girls started to play peek-a-boo with him. They were waiting to talk to the owner about donating to their fund-raiser. The owner was not there, but they stayed to talk to Taylor. They made him laugh and giggle and he wanted to get out of his stroller SO BAD to play with them. When they were ready to leave he got a little fussy, because he had to stop flirting I suppose, so I gave him some puffs to eat. That made him happy till one of the girls turned to say "bye, bye" and he couldn't respond because he was elbow deep in some puffs. She started to walk away and the other girl stopped her and said "Just wait a minute, he'll be done in a second. I want to see him say bye, bye." They waited and he flapped his arms and told them "bye bye" over and over and over. They said bye to eachother at least 5 times. What a little flirt....

House Hunting

I don't know that there is many things I hate more than house hunting. I think I know what a house would look like in our price range, but I'm always wrong. We spent the weekend looking and found a few to look into, but nothing really great. The city is WAY more expensive, but you are paying for the school system, and in Knoxville you can get alot more for your money than in Maryville. To throw another wrench in this mess, I am a city girl who loves Maryville City schools, and Dustin would be more than happy in Louisville with a huge lot. There is a middle ground...I know there is...somewhere. We found a house in the city this weekend we both liked, by looking at it. Great neighborhood...near family...rancher with a basement, and it was For Sale By Owner. I called them...319,000...ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? He claimed, emphasis on claimed, the house was 3600 square feet. There is NO WAY, he had to have been counting the garage, driveway and the yard. Good luck to him.

I don't know if he knows it or now, but I am waiting on our realtor to make magic happen...he can do it, I have faith.

If anyone knows of a good sized rancher, with a basement (finished or not) that they could point our way...I am all ears.

My Two Sons

Dustin wanted Taylor to take a nap with him the other day. He took him to bed with him and laid down with him. I knew how this would go...but I let him try. It didn't work. He ended back up in his crib and Dustin in his bed. Later on that night, before Taylor's bath, this is what I found :)

Guilt

What a strong emotion...guilt. Someone very wise once told me that you can't feel guilt unless you have something to feel guilty for. I used to believe that, but now I beg to differ. Being a mother brings it on for me. I feel guilty when I am not playing with Taylor and doing something for me. I feel guilty when I can't buy him new clothes all the time. I feel guilty when we battle at lunch or dinner time because he doesn't want to eat or try new things. I feel guilty when I lay him down with a water bottle, because he is 17 months old. I feel guilty when I think I want to go back to school, because that is more sacrifice on my family, especially my son. I feel guilty to think I won't be with him during the day. I feel guilty to think my husband will have to sacrifice his big house with a big yard for me to go back to school. I feel guilty that Taylor won't be able to get a sibling for a few years, if I do go back to school. I feel guilty even thinking these thoughts...because I know it's just me...being me...over-analyzing.

Happy Valentine's Day!

I got a great Valentine's day surprise...Roses! I was not expecting anything because we are trying to be budget minded these days, but my wonderful husband (and son...it says so on the card) got me a dozen roses! Dustin is not the romantic type, and he can't keep a secret, so this took alot of thought and effort out of him. I was very proud of him. It is a little known fact that me and Dustin started dating in high school...TEN YEARS AGO...on Valentine's day, so this year was a little more special.

Ideal Situtation

For those of you that know me, know that I am a VERY type-A person. I am a list taker and if I don't have a list at the grocery store, I feel lost and end up buying nothing I need and everything I don't. Whenever I go on a long trip, I make a list of everything I will need, and then everything I need to pack the next morning along with everything I might forget. I try to be organized and stay on top of things, but sometimes having too many lists and over-analyzing is my biggest fault. Going along with my lists, I makes plans. Every time life throws me a curve, I try to make a plan. To throw a wrench into my plans, I am a perfectionist, so naturally my plans are perfect. This leads to a lot of expectations not being met. I've heard from many people I love that my expectations are too high sometimes and that worry will just drive me nuts. I know this, but it's hard to change some habits in life. Through my son's life I have learned that the "right way" and the "right time" are usually NEVER mine. As much as I want it to be, it won't be. This has helped me in his life and I think I have gotten better when it comes to him.

I say this to talk about my current life plan. I had the next two years of my life and my family's life planned out...."had" being the key word. I had our "ideal situation" laid out and knew I would be disappointed if it didn't come through. Well...it didn't, and that is okay. I've learned from this that there really isn't an "ideal situation" for anyone only ideal people in the life that you are living. Sometimes plans are more trouble than they are worth, and I need to learn to let things happen and not over worry about timing in life.

I've also learned that stress and too high of expectations can lead to hurt feelings, people saying things they don't really mean (or at least I hope they don't), and long silent rides home.

With this being said, there is no "ideal situation" anymore, just "ideal people" and I am glad I have been blessed with them in my life.

Must be a Mistake

There must be a mistake. That is the only logical explanation.

I sent in Taylor's picture to Regis and Kelly's Beautiful Baby Search and if you were a finalist, they were going to be calling you sometime this week, so you could be swept away to New York for the tapings next week. It is now Friday and they have not called yet.

Path in Life

My faith is very important to me, so in that respect I do believe we have a set path in life. God has created a path for us, and he knows our lives before we live them, but what happens when there is a fork in the road? There are two distinct ways we can go, neither better than the other, but both very different. How do you know which way is "better."

So...Does anyone know where I can get a map?

Thought of the Day

Inner dialogue...We all have one. Those thoughts and questions we have in our head that we know we shouldn't vocalize. How old is she? How much does she weigh? I wonder if she has had work done? Etc. Etc. For those of you sitting there saying "I don't do that..." You are lying and just for thinking that...yes you do :)

So with that being said, I would like to add another to the list. I wonder if her child is ____(fill in age here)? Now don't get me wrong...I don't think it is bad and I don't mind when someone comes and asks me "How old is your child?" but I don't appreciate it when they throw a random number out there. For example, Taylor and I were in Wal-Mart checking out when the check out lady started talking to him. No biggy...they usually do, he is a good looking kid...if I do say so myself... Anyway, this is how it went. (I can fill in my own inner dialogue because I know that is what I was thinking, I had to guess on hers.)

Her: "Oh what a cute boy you have!"

Me: "Yes, we are very blessed to have a wonderful child."

Her: "He must be about 2 1/2. I have a grand child that age and he's about that size."

Me: "Actually he just turned 17 months. He's a little bit big for his age."

She then stopped checking me out and stared at Taylor and said "Wow...he really is large."

My inner dialouge kicks in "Large..are you kidding me...he's a child, not a size at McDonalds. He is large, but you know what...one day your grandkid is going to be sitting at home or in college wishing he could have Taylor's autograph. Taylor will be playing in the SEC championship or the majors...being large."

While she is standing there STILL STARING I can just hear in her head "Oh my goodness...what is she feeding this child??"

So when she finally stopped staring and she finished checking us out and we left.

With that being said, Taylor has been in the 80th or so percentile all his life in height, weight, and head size. Dustin's side of the family has a history of tall, stout men. Taylor is going to be a big kid. His Granddad thinks he is going to be "the heavy weight champion of the world."

Whew....I feel better...

Any Ideas??

Taylor has learned that climbing stairs is SOOOO much fun. I constantly find him half way or all the way up the stairs many, many times a day. Does anyone have any ideas on how to block the stairs off? We can't put a gate at the bottom due to the opening on the side and we can't put a gate on the fourth stair (where Taylor is sitting) due to the hand rail. We won't be living in this condo past May probably, so major drilling or renovations can not be done. I am desperate for ANY ideas :) I am having trouble getting anything done in the basement because I can't leave him alone in the living room. This is a problem because the laundry and ironing is in the basement and more importantly my embroidery machine is down there!

Time Flies

Over the past few days I have been going through all of Taylor's pictures and saving them to disk. We got a new web cam and we needed more space on the computer to load the software. I have been deleting thousands of pictures...yes, I did mean to write THOUSANDS. I couldn't bring myself to delete any of them, till now. I know they aren't really deleted because I can still see them, but it was hard to delete the pictures of the day he was born, when he smiled for the first time, crawling, walking, etc. etc.

I've always heard that kids grow up fast, but I didn' t believe it till now. I had some post-partum issues after Taylor was born and I sadly found myself thinking "If we can just get through this stage, I'll be okay..." Now I would give anything to go back to "that" stage. It's never as bad as you think it is, and Taylor is such a blessing in our lives. God has given us a wonderful baby.

Being at home with Taylor is sometimes a challenge. He is full of ALL BOY and never sits still. He finds something new to get into each day and has learned those few things that press my buttons and he does them over and over and over... **Funny quick story - For some reason Taylor loves to play with the stereo. He loves to press the buttons and push the CD button so the tray comes out and tear all the DVD's off the shelf they are on. One day he was doing this many, many times and I had reached the spanking stage (past warnings, threats and counting). I asked him to please leave the stereo alone. I told him if he touched it again I was going to get his booty. He then looked me square in the eye, leaned back on his arms and touched the stereo with one toe. I had to leave the room not to laugh! ** Even though it's a challenge, I wouldn't change a thing. Now that I have been able to look back over the last 17 months of his life, it seems like I was miserable pregnant last week. I would do it all over again in a second.

So now I am one of "those" mothers. The kind that look at their kids and say "you've grown up too fast!!"