Month: May 2009
5K, yes again! And getting better!
On Memorial Day the “Team Taylor”, as some have called us, competed in a 5k. It was the 2nd one for a few of us and the 1st for others. No matter what our times were, we were all winners. Here’s a few pictures, but if you want the best 5k story, check out Danielle’s blog.
This is a picture of us before we started, look at how non-sweatty we all look, compare that to the after picture below. 🙂
This the after picture. Part of “Team Taylor” had already headed to their rightful home.
Weekend – Great, Tiring and Overwhelming
This weekend was really great, tiring, and a little overwhelming.
Superhero was out of town. I consider myself to be very lucky because the Superhero is an amazing dad, but I’m a little independent and figured I could handle everthing at home without his help. Well, I could and did, but I also really missed him! Thankfully, I have an amazing family who was there this weekend to hang out with us.
Here’s what we did this weekend (warning, I overscheduled and this is not for the faint of heart):
Friday
- Picked up Bug from daycare, after work, and we went and got groceries
- Aunt Dani came over, brought pizza and watched a movie
- Stayed up entirely too late picking up around the house and doing work (day job work and my new job work)
Saturday
- Went to Bug’s doctor for a asthma recheck
- Starbucks (there’s always at least one trip on the weekends)
- Hiking (I’m sure you figured this one) at Radnor Lake, about 3.5 miles and a beautiful day!
- Lunch at the Pfunky Griddle
- Starbucks (really a great day when you get the ‘bucks twice in one day!)
- Music on the Square in Springfield listening to Daddio and the Sons of the Beach rocking it out
- Stayed up entirely too late (again!) picking up around the house and doing work (day job work and my new job work)
Sunday
- Church
- Lunch at home
- Nap
- Church
- Finally, The Superhero Returns!!!!!
BYE, BYE! Go, BYE, BYE!
A few times recently, Ms. Bug’s personality has really started to shine, most times in a really great way and a few times in a very surprising way. This morning was one of those surprising ways.
I had just finished giving her her breathing treatment (which makes her a little aggitated) and then she was walking around our bathroom while me and the Superhero were getting ready for work. Bug goes for the cabinets (which are child proofed, but that little kid’s arms are skinny and she’s figured out how to get stuff out of them) and I tell her “no” and I block her from getting to them at which time she looks up at me and says in a very non-sweet Bug voice, “BYE, BYE, Go, BYE, BYE“.
I kinda thought it was funny and thinking to myself, “oh, she’s not having any fun and is ready to go to school.” Then I get to work and was re-telling this story to which a friend of mine told me that she wasn’t wanting to go, she was wanting YOU to go! 😦
Parenting Decisions
Since Saturday we have been to the doctor twice. Bug had an ear infection (if you are counting since the tubes in January – this makes 3 ear infections since then) and the symptoms reared their ugly head on Saturday. Thankfully, her doctor’s office is open 7 days a week and they had an opening on Saturday morning (after we ran the 5k). We went in, got the typical antibiotic and ear drops and also were given advise on how to deal with eczema (new for her) and allergies. Well all was okay, until this morning.
Bug woke up this morning with swollen eyes and face. She looked pitiful, but didn’t seem to feel bad (other than what we knew was wrong), so I loaded her up and took her to school (daycare). As I drove to work my mind was working in overdrive, should I have kept her at home today since her eyes were swollen? Should I call the nurse and make an appointment? Should I just call the nurse and ask? Should I just assume she’s going to be okay and go on with my day. On most days I have no problems making decisions, but today I was really in a quandary. Then I remembered a bit of advise that I received from a friend of mine who has 3 high school aged children. Her advise was to always go with your gut and mine was telling me to call the nurse and ask her. Thankfully, I followed my gut.
Nurse wanted the doctor to see Amelia and a breathing treatment and lots of medicine later, we found out that she was wheezing due to asthma and had had a small allergic reaction to sunscreen I had put on her yesterday (which had caused the swollen eyes and face). She’ll get rechecked on Saturday.
I feel so blessed that this was a very small reaction and that I listened to the advise I was given.
Forward Received – The Price of Children
I received this forward from my friend Kristin and thought it was so good that I wanted to share it here:
The Price of Children
Here is something absolutely positive for a change. We’ve all repeatedly seen the breakdown of the cost of raising a child, but this is the first time I have seen the rewards listed this way. It’s nice.
The government recently calculated the cost of raising a child from birth to 18 and came up with $160,140.00 for a middle income family. Talk about price shock! That doesn’t even touch college tuition.
But $160,140.00 isn’t so bad if you break it down. It translates into:
* $8,896.66 a year,
* $741.38 a month,
* $171.08 a week.
* A mere $24.24 a day!
* Just over a dollar an hour.
Still, you might think the best financial advice is: don’t have children if youwant to be ‘rich.’ Actually, it is just the opposite.
What do you get for your $160,140.00?
* Naming rights. First, middle, and last!
* Glimpses of God every day.
* Giggles under the covers every night.
* More love than your heart can hold.
* Butterfly kisses and Velcro hugs.
* Endless wonder over rocks, ants, clouds, and warm cookies.
* A hand to hold usually covered with jelly or chocolate.
* A partner for blowing bubbles and flying kites.
* Someone to laugh yourself silly with, no matter what the boss said or howyour stocks performed that day.
For $160,140.00, you never have to grow up. You get to:
* finger-paint,
* carve pumpkins,
* play hide-and-seek,
* catch lightning bugs,
* never stop believing in Santa Claus.
You have an excuse to:
* keep reading the Adventures of Piglet and Pooh,
* watch Saturday morning cartoons,
* go to Disney movies, and
* wish on stars.
You get to frame rainbows, hearts, and flowers under refrigerator magnets and collect spray painted noodlewreaths for Christmas, hand prints set in clay for Mother’s Day, and cards with backward letters for Father’s Day.
For a mere $24.24 a day, there is no greater bang for your buck.
You get to be a hero just for:
* retrieving a Frisbee off the garage roof,
* taking the training wheels off a bike,
* removing a splinter,
* filling a wading pool,
* coaxing a wad of gum out of bangs, and
* coaching a baseball team that never wins but always gets treated to ice cream regardless.
You get a front row seat in history to witness the:
* First step,
* First word,
* First date,
* First time behind the wheel.
You get to be immortal. You get another branch added to your family tree, and if you’re lucky, a long list of limbs in your obituary called grandchildren and great-grandchildren. You get an education in psychology, nursing, criminal justice, communications, and human sexuality that no college can match..
In the eyes of a child, you rank right up there under God. You have all the power to heal a boo-boo, scare away the monsters under the bed, patch a broken heart, police a slumber party, ground them forever, and love them without limits, so one day they will, like you, love without counting the cost. That is quite a deal for the price!!
Love & enjoy your children & grandchildren & great-grandchildren!!It’s the best investment you’ll ever make!!!!
I’ve always wanted to be a runner
I’ve always wanted to be a runner, but I’ve never enjoyed running, until now. Saturday was my 1st 5k and thanks to a great group of supportive people, it was a lot of fun!
My sister, dad, and great friend from church and of course the kiddos, ran in the Strawberry Stride in Portland. It was a great first 5k, because it was flat and cool (there was some rain, but I refuse to acknowledge it and later I’ll even forget it was raining that day!).
My time wasn’t the greatest, but that isn’t what it was about, it was about having fun, starting and finishing.
Welcome to my Favorite Place on Earth
This year is really a special year, for a lot of reasons: UT will have a winning season (I’m sure of it!), my little one is just growing so fast, I’ve become a Rule 31 Listed Civil Mediator, I’m starting to really like being in my 30’s and I’m getting to go to my favorite places on Earth three times this year!
My Dad has always wanted to hike up to Mt. LeConte in each season that they are open. Well, this year is the year to accomplish this goal! This trip was our first of our three hikes in 2009. We started the hike unlike any hike I’ve ever started….in the rain. But we had the most important part of our gear packed, a good attitude!
This is the view from the office at the top:
This is what I call the stairway to heaven, it’s a view to the dinning hall, where they serve the best hot chocolate and cookies in the world, when you arrive on top! If you look up the other directions, you see the way to the Cliff Tops.
Here’s me and my Dad after the hike. We actually look pretty good in this picture, but we were dog tired. We hiked up in the rain, got hailed on, and watched some pretty neat lighenting. Hopefully, I’ll never get caught in another hail storm while hiking, because hail HURTS! I would not have traded a dry hike for this one though, we got to see some of the most beautiful waterfalls I’ve ever seen (unfortunatley it was raining too hard to stop and take a picture). There was one that was truely magical, it was at least 6 stories high and actually looked holy to me and it’s amazing to think of how beautiful nature really is. When I stop and think about that waterfall I get chills. There’s probably only a handfull of people who have ever seen that waterfall, because it was only there because it had been raining so hard for so many days, really we were so fortunate to see it!
I love this picture. I forget the name of the dinosaur hanging on the kitchen window, but this shot shows how awesome the crew is on top. They really love what they do. I have this picture at my desk to remind me to model my work life after theirs. So what that I work in an office and they work outside, it’s the attitude that I admire about the Mt. LeConte crew. We can all have fun at work, right?
Well, if you’ve gotten this far and haven’t given up on me yet – here’s a link to more Mt. LeConte pictures! http://www.flickr.com/photos/7479735@N05/sets/72157618084584646/ I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.
It Takes a Village to Raise a Child
It does take a village to raise a child. With that being said, I’ve had the privledge this week of pretending for 3 days, while Bug was sick, that I was a stay at home mom and I’ve realized that proverb is very true.
I feel so fortunate to have grandparents (Bug’s) that are very willing to help when needed, I have a very wonderful husband (who I like to call the Superhero) who is even a better dad, and fantastic people at the church daycare that she attends and also a strong support system at our church.
As I type this blog, I’m sitting outside my hotel room in Gatlinburg, TN looking at Mt. LeConte, where I’ll hike tomorrow. Thankfully part of my village is watching Bug this weekend.
Meet Bug’s New Best Friend
Yesterday we took Toes (our 7 lb poodle) to the groomer, she had gotten quite fuzzy and needed shots and such. Typically, Bug doesn’t really care that much for Toes, she likes her but doesn’t go out of her way to play with her, which is perfectly fine with Toes. Our dog is 9 years old and was our first baby. Given that she is set in her ways, she (Toes) has adjusted pretty well to Bug and really likes that she shares her food with her from time to time.
After we picked Toes up with her summer cut, Bug (I think) thought she was a new toy and has not stopped chasing her since!
Donita Brown 
