Swim class.

This was funny.  Each child got a turn and the kids on the step counted to 10 and then yelled wake up.  Taylor needs a little practice at it still.  

I am so excited to show you all what I have learned!  Yeah!

I am such a goofy girl!  I am here to watch my brother... (I really want to get in the water myself, but I have to wait until I am older.)

They warm up by walking through the water.  I was surprised Taylor could stand so tall in it!

Daddy and Reagan watching and playing with all of the things here there were to play with.  Behind daddy is a giant beach volleyball sand court.  There is a huge trampoline and a barbie jeep that is rideable with a lawn-mower motor, and other things. 

They did kick board and if you can see, Taylor has a Spider Man toy that he wouldn't let go of.

If we asked Taylor if he was having fun he would tell you yes, and that he doesn't want to leave!

The kids jumped off the side and practiced doing reach and pull (freestyle) to the other side of the pool.

I don't know why he had goggles on, he only dunked his face a couple of times.  And, he didn't want to let go of her.  He really needs a lot more instruction!

Watch mom!  I am under the water!

We had a blast!  All of us!  Taylor really wants a pool like this at his house and has informed us that when baby Buster is out of mommy's tummy then he is going to get a dog.  After he gets a dog, he wants a pool ready to swim in, so that he doesn't have to fill up a baby pool, that is too shallow anyway, in his very own backyard.  We told him he can get his shovel and start digging.  His response:  we needed to move to a house already equipped with his dream pool...  We asked him if he had money and he held up an empty flat hand... WHAT A SPOILED KID!  WHAT HAVE WE DONE???

Walking, and being silly!

Can you say GOOF!  She is such a ham when she wants to be!  She is still a bit wobbly and goes back and forth with crawling, and hanging on, but she wants to walk.  If she wants to walk quick, she still will climb in her walker and run around the house.  It is really funny to watch!  

This also is a reposting of T opening a "SURPRISE!"

We were so excited to receive this box as well as the others.  Taylor thanks very kindly his cousins and Aunt for sharing all of the millions of trains and tracks of every kind!  Now he has a mountain, and garage and cranes and millions of trains!  No, really, millions!  They are fabulous!  Reagan loves them too!  Now, we don't have to go to Barnes and Noble bookstore to play with all of the trains they have there.  Also, Taylor can play with his friends down at the table for hours!  We are definitely in heaven!  Obviously, Taylor thinks he deserves all this abundance, we are working on that!  Thank you again, family for your generosity!  

This is a reposting of daddy home...

This is proof that daddy is home and the kids are loving every minute of his being back!  They are determined to wear him out everyday!  Thankfully, daddy is not ignoring the whim of a very active boy! He wrestles with Taylor from sun-up to sun-down!  Reagan will not sit on the sidelines either and wants to participate in the action too!  No doubt because mommy has hardly moved in the last weeks due to the hot weather and being extremely uncomfortable pregnant and big.  I, sadly, have not provided much of any entertainment so the kids are really working daddy!  They can't get enough!  I think that everyone gets tired after playing around this much.  Really, it is perfect and the kids can't stop laughing.  Taylor, at dinner tonight was already telling daddy that tomorrow when he wakes up that is what he wants to do:  wrestle!  Hmmm...  boys will be boys!   

36 weeks pregnant

Get a good look, I don't intend to be this big, EVER AGAIN!!!!!!!

I was just trying to show you I am pregnant, I don't think you can tell sometimes... (from the front)

36 weeks and counting and I weigh just as I did when I delivered 3P.  I do think that I look different and hopefully, better!  I intend to be healthy, healthy, healthy and loose all my weight quick!  

Reagan being silly...

I don't know why the other video's have been acting up, but I wanted to try this one and then reload the others.  Keep your fingers crossed.  This is some of what we get on a daily basis!  She is really silly and well, will go on just to make you laugh!  I hope you do laugh!  We love it!

Random pics of the kids...

You are supposed to see the remarkable resemblance my son has with BIGFOOT...  /Reagan having fun!

On the train table...

Goofy!

The storm last night...

With all of the storms as of late, I am thankful that none of the million trees in our yard have come down!  They dance like you wouldn't believe and I always think one might fall, but this is the neighbors tree.  

This Bradford Pear tree has fallen over the fence into our front/side yard.  Wow!

Taylor went and stood under here and thought it was cool, kind of like a cave he said as he found and played with a roley poley bug.  

Here is just a picture from the fence.  

Again, we are so happy that daddy is home...

Building train tracks and playing.

Let me show you...

I am going to jump on you every chance I get!!!

Spending quality time playing a game on the ipad.  Too much fun!

Lover!  I am SOOOOOOO glad you are home!

Wrestling, AGAIN!  Taylor starts it!

He is giggling here!  He is so happy for the added testosterone to the house!

Daddy is worn out!

Getting ready to put Reagan to bed.  

For me?!

We were so excited to receive this box as well as the others.  Taylor thanks very kindly his cousins and Aunt for sharing all of the millions of trains and tracks of every kind!  Now he has a mountain, and garage and cranes and millions of trains!  No, really, millions!  They are fabulous!  Reagan loves them too!  Now, we don't have to go to Barnes and Noble bookstore to play with all of the trains they have there.  Also, Taylor can play with his friends down at the table for hours!  We are definitely in heaven!  Obviously, Taylor thinks he deserves all this abundance, we are working on that!  Thank you again, family for your generosity!  

Taylor's first power outage...

UPDATE: Severe weather pounds CSRA

Thousands of people in the area are in the dark after severe thunderstorms pound the area, knocking out power on both sides of the river. There have been reports of heavy rain, hail, lightening, and wind gusts of up to 60 miles per hour.

Posted: 9:46 PM Jun 15, 2011
Reporter: News 12 Staff

This is one of the pictures shot by the local news team.  We had some branches fall, but mostly twigs and smaller debris.  This morning someone was up at 7AM using their blower to clean up their property.  There were several traffic lights out and so traffic to and from base was backed up.  This is nothing that we can't handle, but I bring it up because this was Taylor's first ever power outage and it was pretty devastating for him.  Let me explain.  We put Taylor to bed as normal.  He wanted mommy at about 9PMish.  Daddy is home now and so he went up to console Taylor.  The power went out while daddy was up there and he told this to Taylor.  I think at that point, daddy thought Taylor was fine, but then Taylor was having a REAAAAALLY hard time!  He started crying again and freaking out!  Let me explain what I think was going on in his mind.  No more outside street lamp lights, no more nightlight, no more noise maker, fan and air-conditioning was off, it was pitch dark, and outside lightning flashed and trees really were dancing and the winds were really strong!  Taylor at this point put what daddy said together with what he saw and heard.  Then he went into panic mode.  (Meanwhile, daddy and mommy were downstairs, waiting for the power to kick back on in the dark on the couch.  I thought it would go back on but I was wrong.  It got really hot (for me) and really dark but it was really cool to look at and watch as the trees danced.  Yes, they often fall around here, but it is still neat to watch when the lightning comes and lights up the sky.  Anyway, Taylor came out of his room and I told him to come down after daddy kept telling him not to be afraid.  I opened the front door and carried Taylor onto the front porch and he was really scared.  We gave him a flashlight and he turned it on and another neighbor flashed him.  I showed him that everyone had their power out and that everyone was getting out their flashlights and such but we were standing there and getting wet and the wind was really in our faces so Taylor was whining and begging to go inside.  Then we went to look in the backyard at the swaying trees.  We prayed and talked about how these things happen and that people in the old days never had electricity and so it was always dark and hot and they never had noisemakers and such.  Anyway, he said he had a tummy ache because the power was out, to which I had to explain that he was nervous or scared and that produces butterflies or knots in your tummy.  He asked for medicine.  Um... no.  We just needed to have some understanding and reassurance.  Needless to say, Taylor slept with us in a sleeping bag on the floor with his flashlight and then power was restored at I think 1AM.  We are supposed to have the same weather tonight so hopefully, we will be ready and Taylor will understand the power and wonder all around him.  We are here with him and so is his God.  We have a roof over our head and we are protected.  Anyway, thought I would share.

We've Only Just Begun,

This is the way we started our mid-morning play; dressed, happy, not hot yet..., having a snack of apples and water.  (Yes, Taylor knows I am taking a picture, and yes he is being silly!)

Still being silly and Reagan is just wondering what in the world?!  This is how the therapist fixed liquid for Reagan, in a bottle with a straw so, I just followed suit, I mean we have so many and the gunk inside is really sticky so you have to wash a lot of cups for her anyway.  

Just romping around.  He wanted to dig a hole, but I suggested he have water play instead.  Oh yeah, perfect!  We filled up the pool and had a blast!  There is a slide in the pool, which Reagan was eager to try, but she can't stay in the sitting position and so we had to get out a little early.  Taylor had so much fun so he stayed in and before I knew it he was getting a lawn mower toy and trucks and putting them in there with him.  Had I not stepped in I am sure the bicycle would have gone in next.  

Fast forward to, I am cleaning up a mess in the kitchen when Reagan is down at my feet at the kitchen table.  I am sweeping a pile of crumbs into the dust pan and WOMP, she is tired and full (of food), she slams her face/mouth into the leg of the table while crawling.  So, we remedied the whole mess, and crying and the both kids being hot with popsicles.  Reagan had to get cleaned up as did I since bloody lips are a mess!  

She was so tired!  But, this was a nice treat, so...

She nursed herself, rather her lip and sucked on this for a good while.  

All cleaned up, from the popsicle and ready to go "Night, night."  Here is a picture of her first bloody lip.    We have only just begun!  I need a nap from all of the heat and craziness!  Night, night all!

Reagan updates...

Well, no pictures in this post.  Sorry!  I just wanted to share with you some very interesting therapies that we are being introduced to.  Since Reagan has a sluggish vocal chord that may or may not impact her voice or speech or swallowing habits we have to work with her by doing various things.  Some are silly and some I never would have thought of!  I suppose that is why other people get paid to specialize in these areas!  Ha!  Anyway, being that we have seen several different specialists, each has told us something to stimulate her brain sensory area.  I am supposed to get my hands on a vibrating toothbrush to set off sensory receptors in her mouth and such.  Another thing I am supposed to do is give her once a day a very, very, very sour Country Time Lemonade drink to stimulate another sensory receptor.  I am not allowed to give her anymore warm or room temperature beverages, they have to be icy cold!  I can only give her straws and I need to start to encourage her to drink with her head all the way down.  I can start to decrease the thickener I have been giving her since birth, but only once a day.  And if she coughs or waters her eyes to the less thickened consistency, then I have to stop all efforts to decrease it.  We are no longer able to determine if she is silently aspirating due to the fact that she isn't an infant.  They also don't want to run her through too many studies where she might be introduced to radiation.  But, it is pivotal to try decreasing the consistency of her beverages so that she will build control and her brain can learn.  Too strengthen her muscles in the airway and throat, we have to sing to her.  We also have to practice wheel barrel with her.  Other things we have to do is make her push things with resistance using her LEFT hand.  This is significant because the left hand is connected somehow to the left vocal chord.  If she bangs a block or hammer, encourage her to use her left hand.  I have to make noises like a shrieking fire truck and emphasize the sound EEEEEEEEEEEEEE-EEEEEEEEEEE while making the siren noise.  The doctors say that she sounds hoarse and that is normal with her vocal chords being the way they are since one is over compensating.  I should let her scream on occasion.  BUT, they said that she expresses (and I TOTALLY agree) very little interest in talking, repeating or playing imitate when we do these things that she may be delayed because she is more of a physical girl!  (No argument there!) Because she is so physical though, they noticed that I already sign with her and to keep doing that because if I have her physically project a word and connect it with an audio word than she will be using more of her physical self to learn.  Let me dust off all my books now for sign.  I also have to encourage her to grunt at effort to do something like pushing, pulling, banging or whatever so that she forces the muscles in her throat to engage and strengthen.  I can't think of anything else, but they watched how she ate so that they could visualize how her tongue and mouth moved.  She is fine there!  Thank goodness.  Everyone says that she is good but I have to watch her speech and continue to watch her swallowing efforts and just practice the above mentioned.  Maybe again at 18 months we will go back for more swallow studies.  Until then we will see.

More of the MISCHIEVOUS little girl!

This is getting a little out of control!  I need to lock up the kitchen, I mean BABY-PROOF EVERYTHING!  She climbed up on the chair, which is a new thing.  And if you can't tell, she has one leg up on the table as if she is going to get up there.  She is unstoppable!  Even if you tell her "NO," it is one big game to her to do it again when you are, oh I don't know, wiping the other childs' bottom in the bathroom.  

This was the thing that just made me feel like, I shouldn't show you, because it makes me look as if I never watch my little girl.  Let me tell you, she has a Jamba Juice that was from lunch that I hadn't yet cleaned up.  Her brother, just finished washing his hands and normally, the stool is always put away in the pantry.  The peas all over the floor are what I made for dinner and they were cooling off on the counter so I could serve them for Taylor and myself.  Reagan has, at this point, already eaten.  Oh and she has had her milk too.  I know she is tired and I have to change her and put her to bed.  I went to help Taylor on the couch with something and got up to get her and this is what I found.  She snuck up the stool, and helped herself to the juice, and made a GIANT mess!  Not to mention, she could fall!  Or worse, she could be in the sink next, or standing on the counter or something!

She knows I caught her and is anxiously trying to suck faster through the straw.

She blows my mind!  I am putting up the gate to the kitchen tomorrow!

The Lord's Prayer

Sunday Bliss!

Is anyone watching?

What can I possibly get into here?  Is this maybe my new hiding spot?

What a great space for me!  They will never find me!

Oh, I think my mom heard me land in the glass bowls...  MAN!

Later, we colored some fun pictures.  Taylor is really doing a good job staying in the lines!  

Mommy gets more done than Taylor, but really, it isn't a contest!  We are just relaxing, quietly before nap.  It is wonderful!

Hi!

Even on really hot days Taylor will dress himself in long pants.  Okay, fine.  Then he will come downstairs and ask, "Do I look handsome?"  He does well for the most part!  This time he wanted to wear a hat too, which is completely out of the norm for him!  Reagan was just wanting to get in a picture with him!  I know it isn't the best quality, but they are posing and both smiling, hence the posting.

Outside. We make the best of the time we are outside!

It is very hot so mommy just sits in a chair in the shade and roasts!  We don't last for much time outside, since everyone sweats miserably, but we do what we can.  Anyway, here is a hopscotch that I drew for Taylor.  He is learning and it is funny!

After the chalk came out, well, if you can't tell, this one either ate one or sucked on one.  Disgusting!  You have to watch her like a hawk!

Taylor is like Fred Flinstone in this thing that is made for a baby.  Whatever makes him smile!