"Normal"

The other day a friend of mine, who I don't see very often, asked how i was liking being a stay-at-home mom (obviously she had not read this). Anyway...I was thinking about the past almost 10 months (holy cow) and reflecting on my new "normal".

Honestly things have not felt "normal" in about 1.5 years. For real. First there was "get used to being pregnant/we're gonna have a baby" normal, then there was "I want to die i feel so bad" normal, then "i'm as big as a house" normal, then "quit my job" normal.

Then Rye was born. There was nothing normal about that.

Then we moved into "i'm so tired, i can't believe i have a baby" normal. Finally we got that under control and then Trevor left for Japan so we moved into "Single mom" normal. Then Trev got back and immediately started working at TN Rand in his "spare" time, I'll call that "almost like single mom" normal. Now we are back from vacation, Trev has dropped the extra work and we are adjusting to the new "i don't have a name for it yet" normal.

I'm finally realizing what over 1/2 of you are thinking to yourself now.

Kids=constant change=never normal.

Those of you know i'm not so good with change, unless i initiate it and then still, it's hard for me. So....things are good, things are under control, i feel like i have a handle on this whole being a mom thing (as much as you can, i guess). I'm able to freelance and paint and still do all those "stay at home" mom things...so i guess that's pretty good. It feels pretty good at least. Course today Rye decided that he didn't want his morning nap for the first time....ever. He's also begun scooting around the room. Yet again, the times, they are a changing.

the boat

One of my favorite things to do in the whole world is to go out in the boat. Oh I love it so much. The wind, the sun, the water--ahhhhh.

Trevor's parents bring their boat down to the Keys every year and this is our main source of entertainment for the week. This year the boat had a couple hiccups but thankfully nothing major that kept us from going out too much. Here are some of my favorite "boat shots" from the week.

Dad, showing off his muscles and Rye and Gramma getting ready for a ride:

"the happy family" and their father/chauffeur:

Rye and Grampa being silly:

LOVE this shot of Rye and his Taylor grandparents:

Rye and Dad, cruising

Inspirational Trevor:

Momma and Rye, being silly as usual:

Rye and his Grampa, and then cutie-pie Rye

I love this shot of Trevor's mom, this sums up "going out in the boat":

Sometimes i wish Rye was a girl....

so i could put this adorable backpack from old navy on his birthday list. Something tells me i couldn't get that one by Trev....sigh, oh it is so cute. Ok, all you moms of girls out there, please get this and love it for me!

the panda is pretty cute though....

Family Foto

Having a great camera does come with its drawbacks. First of all it's pretty tricky to use and thus is quite difficult for others to take (good) pictures with. Thankfully, Trevor's cousin's wife is also a photographer and took these great "family pictures" for us. Thank you Kristen Joy!

Taylor family vacation photos: Marathon Key, Florida, July 2010

...and that's what it's all about

Rye and I went down to Ft Myers a week before Trev so Rye (and I) could spend some quality time with his grandparents. We had a GREAT time and especially enjoyed when "the cousins" came over to play. Here are some pictures of Trev's mom with all her grandbabies. Look how happy she looks, course you would be happy too if you had such cute grandkids. ;)

enjoy the miracle that is 4 kids looking (somewhat) at the camera!

p.s.--Momma T, if you click on these pictures they will open larger in their own window, then you can right click and save them to your computer so you have the edited versions, if you want.

love and miss you already!

having the same hart

-------------------Ellen-----------------------------------------Rye------------------

anyone notice anything familiar about these two?

it's Becky and Briana the second generation! wooo woo

Cousins, Cousins...

...there were never such devoted cousins.

As the first of what will probably be many Florida posts....here is Rye playing with his cousins.

Autumn...not quite as interested in Rye as she was the crayons...

Sammy on the other hand was the most attentive to Rye....here's one of the funnier pics...

She really was very sweet and nurturing towards him. He LOVES his cousin Sammy!

Caleb was also very fond of Rye, although a bit more unsure of how exactly to play with him. Here they are reading books...

Autumn. This picture is somewhat of a miracle because this girl does not stop moving for more than .024 seconds. ever. Thankfully we captured her adorable grin.

more books with Samantha...

books turned into a tickle fight pretty quickly...

if you are ever reading books with your cousin and you fall over, don't cry, just go with it!

ok, more soon. hope these will hold you over for a bit. sorry it's been so long but i'm more of a "enjoy it while it's happening/blog later" kind of a person.

sorry, take it or leave it. ok, back to the enjoying....