A shot for the ages - 4 generations of the Wilson clan...

Age of Lady Kaitlyn:  28 days (born 4 weeks ago today!)

Family,

And a good evening to you from the Queen City, where Team Taylor has discovered a new level of exhaustion despite a FANTASTIC weekend with the family.  Before I complain about the exhaustion, however, let me recap one of the best weekends I've had in 2013 - complete with a visit from Grammie and Nanny!

Baby, Bride, Beer - all the essentials for a PERFECT DAY!!!

The weekend started with a bang at the ONLY place to be when the weather is perfect - VBGB!  That's right - Team Taylor is responsible for scheduling the monthly happy hour at our favorite German Beer Hall, and we weren't going to let a little thing like childbirth get in the way, right?  Plus we wanted Kaitlyn to meet her work family, and normally this monthly installment is the only time we can get the entire group together (Old School Cool, the Whale, Eagle One, Hitman etc.  Kaitlyn - if you're reading this, these are all the people who came to your shower and gave you tons of AMAZING presents, and chances are you know them now by their real names - Ray, John, Mark, Sean, etc).  We got there about 4:30 and spent 3 hours outside in PERFECT weather.  The best part?  K slept like an ANGEL the entire time save the 20 minutes I fed her (and she took that bottle down like a CHAMP, for the record - atta girl!).

A photo for the ages - 4 generation of the Wilson clan.
Gran - you were here in spirit.  I miss you.  I love you.

We then rolled home, arriving at almost the same time as....GRAMMIE!!!!  That's right, folks - it was mom's first trip since the marathon drive from Port of Everglades after docking from the Panama cruise.  Nanny made the trip as well, which meant not only did I have some amazing, much needed bonding time with my family, but we also got to take the 4 generation photo!  The photo shoot (which actually took place yesterday - Sunday) was amazing, as we used the SLR and got some great shots.

Friday we just hung out for a bit (Jenny and I had Hawthorne's) before passing out.  K was pretty good that night, meaning I was able to rise and shine about 10 AM on Saturday morning for a GREAT brekkie (courtesy of Mum).  We then made the drive to Lowe's where we got a truly unexpected and absolutely FANTASTIC present - mom and Nanny bought us a pink dogwood to commemorate Kaitlyn's birth!  It was such a GREAT idea, and I was thrilled about the suggestion.  So we picked up a few plants, a spade, a nice looking dogwood sapling, and then rolled back to the case, where we found a great spot and started digging.

 I hit some roots first, but soon enough the little Dogwood was in its place!  I don't think it will flower this year, but I'm THRILLED about having it here and so excited to watch it grow with Kaitlyn over the coming years (and provide shade to the hammocks, of course :-)).

Absolutely LOVE this photo - the map in the background, K
in the foreground, Grammie holding her.  For me it sums up
my life nicely - the background represents the travel and
experiences who've made me what I am, the child sits in
the center of the foreground because she's such a key focus
of my life now, and Grammie is holding her just like she
once held me, showing that her love and support is constant.

In fact, we got so "gardening gung ho" after the dogwood that we planted our gerber daisies (which mom had brought) and even broke out the blower for the first time.  Dude, that thing is AWESOME!!!!  Hurricane force wind speeds (230 mph) as leaves went all over creation, which Muffin Puffin then mowed (her first time buzzing our yard - she LOVED it).




Saturday night was ROUGH, however, as K turned some type of Exorcist corner and spent more than 2.5 hours SCREAMING LIKE A RABID BANSHEE.  Seriously - we'd NEVER seen her like that, and nothing we did seemed to work.  Honestly, I now think it was a combination of gas meets overtired, but no matter what it was BRUTAL.  We took shifts sitting with her, but it didn't really matter where you were - if you were in this ZIP code, YOU HEARD THIS CHILD.  Finally she passed out and then work up right back on schedule for a feeding - kids are amazing.

Nanny trying to soothe an out of control
4 week old.  I simply LOVE this picture.

Sunday started with an AMAZING quiche from mum, followed by something that had been bothering me for WEEKS - the bolting of the IKEA dresser to the wall.  Now let me set the stage - Team Taylor had a couple of options pre-child.  We either drop MAD CASH for furniture, or we buy the cheapest stuff we can find, knowing that we'd be replacing it when K was a bit older AND knowing that, well, kids break stuff.  The other driving factor for me was that I am of the opinion no one in the house should have nicer furniture than the people paying the mortgage for the house, and so we opted for IKEA vs. Pottery Barn.  Despite the 3 hour assembly (which I've spoken about in previous blogs), all was well save one teeny weensy detail - YOU HAVE TO BOLT THE DAMN THING INTO THE WALL SO IT DOESN'T TOPPLE.  I was not over excited about this prospect, but it excited me a whole lot more than the idea of 5 feet of plastic crashing onto my child's head.  And so, with that in mind, mom and I went upstairs to a) put up some valances, and b) bolt in the dresser.  Item a) went VERY fast.  Item b) was, well, A NIGHTMARE OF GALCIAN PROPORTIONS.

Good luck getting that piece of furniture out of this room!
In 30 years time, that dresser will "be negotiable and included
with the sale...if it hasn't already been used as firewood.

For starters, we DID NOT have the proper bolts.  For that matter, we didn't even have the proper tools. Add in the fact that the base board had the dresser almost an inch off the wall, and you have a recipe for 20 minutes of angry Sammy cussing in his child's nursery in front of his mother.  However, there was one silver lining - we accidentally found a stud behind one side of the wall.  We tried to screw in a bracket and bolt for about 30 minutes before my mom came up with the best idea EVER - why not just hammer it into the wall?  BINGO, BABY!!!!  2 4 inch nails later, that puppy wasn't moving if you showed up with a crow bar and a stick of dynamite.  Good times.

Ready for action...and clean for one day.  

After stocking the bookshelf and moving the changing table and glider into the room, all was complete save one thing - the hanging of the pictures.  This was important to me, as I got the chance to hang a picture that was in my nursery as well.  Hand-stitched by mum, it reads:  "Anyone can be a father, but it takes someone special to be a daddy."  It felt pretty fantastic to place that on the wall.

The bug in the rug in her crib for the
first time - she loved the mobile and the
Sleep Sheep!

After the photo shoot, mom and Nanny left, and we crossed off another first - we put Kaitlyn in her crib for the first time!  I am happy to report that it was a success (minus the 45 minutes of SCREAMING that just took place), and she's now 100% in her room.  The monitor has been AMAZING so far - and it's give both Jenny and I a bit of a breather to have our own space.

Mom, Nanny - thank you both SO MUCH for coming, for all of the food, for all of the cleaning help, for the dogwood - you name it.  I just can't thank you enough for making the drive - it was great to see you, and I really, really hope the next visit comes soon.  Love you guys!!!!

Love,

Sam and Jenny