Team Taylor dives into summer...

Age of Lady Kaitlyn:  3 years, 4 months

Age of Baby T:  16 weeks, 2 days (the size of an avocado)

Family,

And a good Monday evening to you from the Queen City, where the Bull is solo tonight in a house

with only 1 working HVAC.  Having tried sleeping last night in 88 degree rooms (and worrying that K might potentially suffocate given the lack of airflow - even with three fans in there), I sent the girls and the TBD down to South Carolina to stay with Jenny's family.  I'm actually planning on sleeping on the air mattress in the living room tonight.  And while that is sub-optimal, the good news is that a) a replacement is on the way tomorrow, and b) I've got some time to really devote to cranking the Blog out (or at least making progress!).  So let's get amongst it, shall we?

6/2 - K successfully opened the drain for the first time ever!  So I think we've alluded to the fact that K's sense of independence is a bit excessive at times (more on that throughout this post), and the trouble is that, while I love her willingness to try new things, she is adamant that no one can help her when she's trying to do things - even if they are beyond her current abilities.  The drain in her bathtub had been one of these items until this moment, but BOOM GOES THE DYNAMITE.  It's funny, as I'd basically just told her "Sweetheart, you can't do it yet.  It's ok, and I appreciate you trying, but you're just not strong enough."  Two seconds later, that drain was flowing like a Maelstrom.  Quality!

#tillthewholeworldhears

6/3 - We hit NOMAD on this day, and K actually stayed in the cold pool for THIRTY MINUTES!  It was nuts, but she had a blast!  Also, Baby T rolled 11 weeks on this day - the size of a fig. :-)

6/4 - This was a big night, as this was the night that we went to Saturday evening service.  Normally

Sammy the Bull doing his part to protect JT - spraying
Premetherin all OVER her clothes...and the screen porch.

we don't go on Saturdays, but on this night they were praying for the missionaries heading to Peru.  Just before the sermon started, they called the team to the front.  The leaders then walked up and laid hands on them, and Pastor Troy actually laid his hands on Jenny's forehead!  It was an incredible moment, and the message also helped really bolster my strength and confidence about Jenny going to Peru.  It's funny to write about it now that she's already home, but there was definitely a spirit of fear trying to press on us in the days leading up to the trip.  I had been strong and felt very confident that God would protect her - after all, we had prayed on it a lot and believed that's where God wanted her to be - but as D-day closed in, there was certainly some anxiety that creeped into the house.  However, I heard the sermon I needed that night, and after that it was full speed ahead.

6/5 - K had her first private lesson over at Emmi's pool on this day, and she did great!  The instructor, Mr. Brandon, was great, and K really took to him quickly.  He had lots of great ideas on how to get her to do certain things in the water, and it was $20 very well spent.  We then stuck around and played in the pool (a lot in their hot tub), and K had a blast with Emmi.  It was so funny - K just wanted to do everything that Emmi did.  We've actually seen this a lot lately, and in many instances she'll just completely copy the object of her attention at the moment (you should see her with little Charlotte at NOMAD - she is almost like her shadow).  Emma was really cute because she kept calling K  "little Kaitlyn" (apparently her babysitter is named Kaitlyn as well).  K was really whiny on this day.  We thought it was just a one off.  Little did we know...

Stage 1 - the "Getting to Know You" period

Stage 2 - let's see those kicks and find out what you can do

Stage 3 - face in, let's float!

6/6 - K's first day of Summer Camp:  so this week started the first of 4 camps this summer for the Goose.  This one, over at University Methodist, was called "Wonders of Nature."  And let me tell you - K absolutely LOVED IT.  Seriously - she had a blast every single day, but particularly on the day where they gave her the Smore to take home.  Too cute.

JT had an appointment for Baby T on this day, and the heartbeat was 168.  Everything looked and sounded GREAT!

Side note on this day - Jenny received a letter from Cousin Mark.  Inside was a note about the upcoming trip, a check to sponsor her on the upcoming trip, and another small gift.  It was his dog tags from Iraq, and inscribed on them was the Bible verse that Jenny had repeated over and over in the run-up to the trip - Joshua 1:9.  Truly, it was a "God Encounter" moment.  Believe me on this people - God absolutely WILL and DOES speak to you when you need to hear His voice.

6/7 - I started this day a little on edge about Zika, but then I switched my research from news and forums to actual research and empirical information.  Again, I felt led by God to change my search tactics, and the end result gave me a much greater peace.  Also, we had lunch with the Parkhouses that evening at Hawthorne's and dropped the bomb!

Look at that hand!

6/8 - We got some terrific news at the OB-GYN.  The first check for Downs was negative - THANK YOU, FATHER!  The heartbeat was 162, and all the blood work was great.  Oh, and this was the night that K got to eat her Smores.  Hilarious.

6

/10 - JT left for Peru early this day, and we didn't even have time for a "Bumpie."  However, she did get one in Peru to commemorate Baby T rolling 12 weeks - now the size of a lime!  I worked most of the day but took the afternoon off to swim with K at NOMAD, where K peed on me while I was giving her a piggy back ride in the pool.  AWESOME.

Some side notes at this point in the month:

12 weeks and counting!

1. "Start the timer" - so we usually use a timer before bed time, setting it for 8 or 10 minutes depending on how late we're getting her into bed.  A few weeks back I started saying it in a terrible Boston accent -  "Staht the tama" - and K would always correct me and ask me to "not use the funny voice."  Well, this week she started to copying whatever I did, and the results have been hilarious.  She's got a high pitched voice, a deep voice, a British voice - you name it.  Too cute.

2.  "Why" - I mean, this kid is asking it NON-STOP.  HOLY MOLY I DIDN'T THINK KIDS REALLY DID THIS.

3.  Her favorite question to ask (and she will ask it 600 times):  "Where we goin' go in da mornin'?"

6/11 - So I will just be honest - this was the toughest day I've ever had (and I hope will have) with K. I'm not sure if she didn't sleep good, she missed her mommy, a combination of the two, or something else, but she was an absolute TYRANT all day on this day.  Everything was a struggle.  I spanked her 5 times, we did multiple timeouts, I took 7 animals from her - still nothing worked.  It all started with her wanting to dress herself.  There are 2 problems here.  The first is that some outfits just simply aren't designed for a 3 year old to put on by themselves.  K, however, refuses help  - even when she gets so twisted that she's basically in a straight jacket.  But no matter what, she won't let you help her.  And then,
when she can't figure it out, she immediately gets so frustrated that it's an instant meltdown.  I mean, it was this way from 7 AM onward ALL DAY, and she didn't nap (which was a killer).  And don't get me wrong - we still had some great moments.   It was summer life group launch, and there were bounce houses, shaved ice, face painting for the kids, and they even got to spray colored water all over their teachers for the amount they raised as part of Liberty.  K ate that Shaved Ice like it was her job.  They gave her just the ice and let her mix the flavors - she was ALL ABOUT IT.

I will thank my mom for her coaching and encouragement on this evening. I 'd hit my breaking point, and quite frankly I was neither speaking nor behaving very politely.  Mom gently corrected me, and I'm thankful for that.

6/12 - K woke up at 4:40 AM screaming.  I went in there to check on her, but she was deep inside of a nightmare.  She actually opened her eyes and looked at me, but then she went back to rubbing them and re-settled.  That further frayed my nerves heading into Sunday, but luckily she was GREAT!  Honestly, she was a complete angel all day.  She started by asking me "Daddy, will you please help me put on my clothes?"  I was thrilled beyond words, because to me it suggested that I'd held the line one time longer than she was willing to push.  Truth be told, she really did miss the animals in the bed and wanted them back.  Perhaps I have finally "found her currency."  For her good behavior, she eventually got 3 animals back.  She also did a great job helping me clean up, so I gave her coins for her piggy bank.

JT with the kids in Peru.

She had a GREAT swim lesson - she was even pulling rings off the bottom of the pool (3 feet)!  She did unfortunately burn her feet on the pavement.  She was walking, it got too hot, and then instead of running she froze and started screaming.  I ran over and picked her up, as she was pretty rattled.  What I will say, she's VERY cautious over there now - she wants me to carry her EVERYWHERE unless a) I can prove it's shaded or b) Emmi is already walking along that same path.  And to confirm - her little tootsers are fine.

Dinner that night was with the Tacy's, as they'd graciously offered to look after K for the week so that I could continue working.  K showed me her room, had fun playing, and ate like a champ.  All went well until she noticed that I wasn't unpacking a bag.  When she realized that I was leaving, she suddenly started hanging onto me really tightly.  They all walked out with me, and K just looked pitiful - her little lip was quivering.  I bent down to give her a hug, and she just completely broke down.  It was some of the hardest crying I'd ever seen from her, and she hugged me so tightly.  I think the poor girl felt like both parents had walked out in 36 hours, and all the change was just too much.  For my part, I drove away a basket case.  I had so many emotions running through me.  I felt like I'd not been a great father to K that weekend.  I felt like K was truly sad, lonely, scared, and upset.  I felt like my mom was not best pleased with my discipline, dad was worried I was going to lose my job, and the whole family was worried about Zika and Peru.  I knew that I just had to reset, and the time alone did help that.  I have been shown twice in the past month that I think I'm going a little too hard and trying to do too much.  This night (and the Monday afterwards when I went to be early) were clear indicators that I was exhausted.

In retrospect, an experienced like this is a strong reminder of how hard Jenny's job is day in and day out, and also have absolutely fantastic she is at it.  She faces these challenges every day and has to dismantle the atomic bomb sometimes hourly before it explodes.  For me, it was a great lesson that I shouldn't just try to jump in when I hear K screaming outside my door, as I could very well be undoing some good work or teaching that Jenny's in process of conducting.  Also, I found that I was SCATTERBRAINED that weekend - I was losing stuff and finding it later in the most random of places.

One other item to note - I started doing research on needed caloric intake and portions for 3 year olds, and I realized that I might be giving K too much food.  Sure enough, when I started using a measuring cup for the cereal, I realized that I'd been given her double the recommended amount.  Kids her age need 1200-1600 calories, and I fear I've been putting too many fruits, too much cereal, and likely too much of the main meat/pasta/protein at every meal.  I'm making a much more concerted effort to be smarter now, as I obviously want to set her up for success with portion control and with her eating habits.

Oh, and one more thing that was super cute on this day.  I told her that she had to clean up her "old

room" (wonder what she'll think when Baby T takes that) and that everything needed to be off the floor.  Well, I came back in after doing my tidying, and sure enough the room was spotless!  I was SUPER impressed, and I think I even gave her an animal back to commemorate the effort.  It was only later that I noticed toys where in the hamper, in the closet, behind the door, you name it.  But hey - she did what I asked her too, and the room looked spotless at first blush, so no complaints!

Also, her imagination really seems to be taking off.  She's crafting stories during quiet time and when playing by herself, and the tales are becoming more complex.  It's really neat to listen to!

6/13 - Great news from the geneticist who looked at JT's blood work:  the results were great, and the risk for Downs dropped to 1 in 1800 and the risk for Trisomeme 18 dropped to 1 in 2200.  There is one final blood test and hurdle to clear, but everything sounds like it's going great!  the lady said that she wasn't concerned - AMAZING!  Thank You, Father!  t can't remember if I mentioned this last month, but during Jenny's last ultrasound they said that everything looked fantastic.  All the parts were proportional, and she was tracking within 2 days of her due date (how they can possibly know that is beyond me).  Honestly, it's just been amazing to watch this miracle unfold according to God's perfect plan.  So incredibly exciting!

Little Hornet in spirit!

6/16 - K came back from Nole Nana's this day, and she rocked up with some SUPER CUTE arts and crafts.  And not only had she done a daily craft herself, she's also made a gift for mommy, a Father's Day gift for me, and a craft for our anniversary!  All of them were wrapped, and K was desperate to get into them.  We had to pull her away!

I took her to NOMAD during the afternoon, and when we got into the locker room and I told her to take off her bottoms she looked at me matter of factly and said, "I'm still peeing, dada."  I had to fight to keep from cackling, as there were loads of dudes in there.  Simply priceless.

6/17 - We hit NOMAD again on this day (I mean, we're there at least once a day at this point - we are basically family), and K started singing "Call Me Maybe."  It was too cute, and when I asked her where she heard that, she replied - "Mommy!"  JT - are you a closet Carly Rae Jepsen fan? :-)

Baby T hit 13 weeks on this day - the size of a pea pod!

Chillin' at Emmi's pool.

6/18 - So this was a big day, as JT came home!  Unfortunately she missed her connection in Newark, but the good news is that she still made it home in the afternoon.  K and I made a welcome home sign and drove to the airport to greet them.  They were all exhausted, but it was SO GREAT to have her back and have her home!

On the couch before we went to pick up JT, K was laying on me.  Obviously it had been quite the ordeal (and not without its tantrums and tough moments!), and that moment of us just sitting there, her head in my lap, was just too perfect.  I said to her, "I'm really proud of you, kid.  You've been resilient through all of this."  She actually sat up, looked me straight in the eye, and said:  "It was my pleasure."  I was pretty much, well, blown away.  And then she gave me that sweet little smile.

Side note is that it's SO INCREDIBLY GOOD to have my girls back safely and at home.  JT slept like an absolute champion, and I slept good as well knowing that she was back safe and that Zika was far, far away.  God, thank you SO MUCH for protecting my family on their travels.

The pre-game:  practicing that smile!

Homecoming!!!!!

And then what matters - the gifts. :-) 

Tell me that isn't Cruella seville...

Thug life (alpaca edition)

The cutest item from this day - we were doing magnets in the bonus room, and K picked up the letter "D."  She said, "Here's what your name begins with - Daddy!"  It totally caught me off guard - and I LOVED it.

6/19 - This marked the 10th day straight that K had swam (and we're pretty much daily at this point - an off-day is a rarity), and the highlight came during K's swim lesson.  Mr. Brandon said, "She's the fastest learner I've ever seen.  You just tell her to do something, and she does it."  Side note - he actually said this again last Sunday, as he told her how to dive down to the bottom, and she did it instantly.  He was absolutely blown away.  Makes a parent feel good!  The lesson went great - that girl is really learning quickly!

Also, this was Father's Day, and we had a really nice church service.  They offered bacon topped donuts for the Father's, and K was ALL ABOUT eating mine!  At one point I set it down trying to take a picture or something, and she just DEVOURED a section of it.  Classic!  Also, they had whole milk and chocolate milk on offer for the dads, and K didn't miss a beat getting TWO CUPS of chocolate milk.

Best wife and daughter giving the 4th edition of the best Father's Day gift a daddy could ever receive.  Love my girls!

Now what I will say - K was, by and large, a monster on Father's Day.  Unlike last year when she was a saint, this go-around she was a whiny tyrant.  That being said, there was one moment right before church when she stopped raging, looked up at me, and then said, "You are the best daddy EVER."  I mean, between that and the homemade Father's Day card she gave me, how could I not be wrapped around her little finger?  So yeah, it was a good day. :-)

13 weeks, baby!  Look at that cute little bump!

6/20 - "Can I shake?"  So with Jenny in Peru, K had obviously been with me a lot that week and the two weekends on either side of it.  Well, as kids often do, she's is almost ALWAYS in the bathroom with me when I go.  Well, I was peeing on this day, and she asked me, "Daddy, how come you don't wipe?"  I said, "Boys shake, girls wipe."  Well, the other day she was watching me pee (I mean, staring intently - it's pretty intense) and asked, "Daddy, can I shake?"  Well, I thought she was asking if she could help me (to which I was going to scream NO WAY JOSE) when she just stood up from Ducky Potty and started shaking and dancing - it was HILARIOUS.

On the independence front, however, K has taken it to a new level.  She's now trying to actually unbuckle her own car seat when we arrive at our destination.  And even though I've politely told her "Sweetheart, you can't unbuckle it - that's the point of the design," she goes BALLISTIC when you step in to help her.  It's the same with clothes and everything at this point.  I've heard other say it, and my buddy Johnny actually said this past weekend, "Y'all have the patience of Job."  However, something tells me that will soon change. :-)

6/21 - First braid!  She got it at bed time, and it was just adorable.  Her 2 great quotes from the day:

1.  "You are a smart little daddy."  (I can't actually remember what I did).

2.  "I have tiny little nipples."  Getting out of the bathtub - I mean...I don't know.  What can I say?

6/22 - 1st French braid!  Man, JT is like a surgeon with this stuff - I have no idea how she does it!  And the cute thing - the last 2 nights we've all been "scary ghosts with the hoodie up," which basically means we've all worn one of my hoodies or rain breakers at the same time and run around the house.  K has been ADORABLE, as the hoodie is obviously enormous and swallows her whole.

The other classic moment was when I flapped my wings and made a "dinosaur sound," at which point K said, "Pterodactyl!"  I'm telling you - HARVARD.  BUSINESS.  SCHOOL.  AT.  16.

6/25 - Disney tunes on You Tube - so on this evening I let her watch "Under the Sea" on my phone.  You Tube always queues up the next one, and she saw "Part of That World."  She asked if she could watch it, and I said, "Ask me in the morning, and I'll let you see it."  Sure enough, I went into her bedroom when she woke up, and it was THE FIRST THING SHE ASKED ME.  I mean, we are talking .0000009 seconds after entering the room?  AMAZING!  Side note - she's now singing Part of That World all the time and actually a) knows a lot of it and b) even does some of the inflection!

Look out, Katie Ledecky...

K helped us weed this day, and she really was a big help!  We pulled a lot of weeds, cleaned up

around the fence, and removed dead sticks that were scattered all over the place.  This really was a great weekend, as we had Jenny back and were able to just saturate in some family time.  Oh, and I finally learned the secret to Harry the Happy Dragon at Harris Teeter.  You see, I've never had a penny on me, so I've never been able to get it going.  K had always said, "Mommy can make it go!", but I just assumed that meant JT had change (which she normally does).  However, on this day at the Teet, she showed me the secret, which basically consists of you slamming the machine with your flat palm, at which point it comes to life!  For the record - I successfully made this happen on my own last week.  BOOM GOES THE DYNAMITE.

Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice!

6/26 - K's cute line today was walking around with the Kingdom Builder's boomerang (it's foam) and repeating "My good friend Boomerang."  The funnier moment was when she was in the bathroom a bit later.  I heard what I thought was, "I love you, asshole."  ( I mean, she was on ducky potty...)  In shock I walked in there, only to find out that she was holding an apple and had said, "I love you, apple."  WHEW!  Another tough conversation avoided for another week.

JT had FH kids, so K and I were playing in the morning before church.  Well, K stacked 3 coasters together and told me that she'd just made me a sandwich.  When I asked what it was, she said, "Meat, chicken balls, and lollipops."  I about fell out laughing.

That afternoon we went to NOMAD, where K was a WARRIOR in the cold pool!  She actually swam 5 lengths (125 yards) on her own!  Granted, she would stop on occasion, but I think that's amazing!  At one point she was chasing JT, and I got teary-eyed watching my girls do freestyle in the lane.  I thought about all the fun I hope we'll have as a family exercising and swimming together, and I also thought about how neat it would be if they both enjoyed grinding out laps together.

In a bit of Urban Dictionary, I taught K "#awesomesauce!"  She is really cute when she says it - even does the hash tag motion.  This father is proud.

14 weeks, baby!!!

I got teary-eyed a second time when she curled up beside me on the couch to watch Ariel on my phone.  She was snuggled in so tightly, and it just felt amazing.  This weekend had been a complete 180 from the previous (and the week as well, which had been tough for me and JT), and I just felt so much better and so much more connected to my family.  Writing this almost a month after the fact (and having slept almost 11 hours last night), I can say that I think I've gone a bit harder than I realized, and it has taken a told on me mentally, physically, and emotionally.  I am conscious that I need to start dialing it back vs. trying to constantly knock out to-dos.  The good news is that I see a shelf life on trying to turn the dial so hard, and I'm hoping that there will be a gradual descent starting in August with life just getting calmer.  However, all my friends who have 2+ tell me that will absolutely, definitely, CERTAINLY not be the case. :-)

K and Eli creating the next masterpiece.

Oh, and K has been all about imitating daddy lately.  The other day she asked Jenny, "What is daddy eating for breakfast?"  When JT told her oatmeal, she said, "I want oatmeal, too.  I want to eat whatever daddy eats."

I mean...cutest.  Photo.  EVER.

6/27 - K has somehow magically fell back in love with bubbles in the bath again, and she's really enjoying hiding her hands and feet in the bubbles.  She'll usually say, "Where are my cute tootsers" or Where are my cute little hands," and then you have to look for them before she jerks them out of the water.  Also, she is LOVING playing the "No, it's Daddy!" game.  The rules - I say something that applies to me (can be anything) and say, "Is that mommy or daddy?"  She will say mommy, at which point I say NO, IT'S DADDY!!!!!" and then tickle her.  She loved it so much the first night that she's asked for it repeatedly (and we almost always acquiesce."  The way she asks is funny - she'll say, "Can you say the words you did yesterday?"

6/29 - Not sure if I gave the background on this, but during K's tantrums while JT was away, I'd confiscated several animals and put them in prison (aka my closet).  Well, this day was a landmark moment, as the final one was rescued from Prison (Jennifer Puppy).  You see, I'd let her reclaim 1 a day, and then only on days where she'd actually behaved and hadn't gone mental during putting her clothes on.  Either way - all good things.

6/30 - Strong backstroke in the pool today.  Our little girl is soon to be a Starfish we think!

Okay, that's all the news that's fit to print.  Chat with you all in a month!

Love,

Sam and Jenny

Heartbeats and heads under water - another month of miracles and milestones...

Age of Lady Kaitlyn:  3 years, 2 months 21 days

Age of Baby T:  10 weeks and 5 days (the size of a Kumquat)

Family,

And a good afternoon to you from the Queen City, where a whirlwind May is now in the books and T

eam Taylor is poised for a June that will see this house and our lives transformed.  How's that for an opening, huh?  Let's get amongst it, shall we?

General update - at the moment, my daughter is UBER into dresses.  Seriously - every single day is a dress at the moment, with the top choices always being either Ladybug dress #1 or Ladybug dress #2.  I will talk more about K's fashion sense further down, but suffice it to say that t-shirts are NOT the weapon of choice at the moment.  Also, she does NOT want shorts - even if it's 14,000 degrees.  I give a lot of credit to JT, as K is finally starting to see the value of wearing shorts vs. pants during a Charlotte summer, but it's been quite the journey.  I mean, we are talking a girl mandating pants even if it's 90 degrees out - insanity!  It's all about the "sparkle pants" that she likes so much.  It's funny - one mom did make the observation that "sparkle shorts" might be the antidote.  Why didn't I think of that earlier...but I'll tell you one thing that's just SO CUTE:  anytime she puts on a dress, she says to Jenny, "I want to go show daddy how pretty I am."  She then runs into my office (she's normally dressed before I start calls) and presents herself.  For me, I get a) to see my super cute daughter dressed and ready to start the day, and b) a big hug, so it's a pretty awesome way to steel myself for facing corporate America. :-)

5/4 - during prayers this evening, we asked K who she wanted to pray for.  Without missing a beat, she said, "This bed."  I mean, you gotta roll with it, right?  And so there we were, saying, "Father, please bless this bed, that K can have a good night's sleep and be well rested...in Jesus Name...Amen."  What's even cuter - she's now doing it herself.

5/5 - K's first swim lesson as a Little Froggy!  So on the whole it went really well!  She met her new teacher (Mr. Ryan), who was impressed for a first lesson and said that she was "a breath of fresh air."  It's her and three boys, and she does seem a bit more willing to listen (and a little less likely to go off piste and start splashing) than the Y chromosomes, which is part of why I think he likes her. :-)  That being said, she did a really good job with the kick board, with floating, and with at least putting her face underwater.  Staying under longer was what Mr. Ryan said to focus on, so that's where we turned our attention in subsequent swims with her.

5/6 - Stroller Stride!  So this was a new concept for us, but it's essentially moms getting together and exercising with their kids.  The kids can either participate or ride along in the stroller, so it's a good chance to get some fresh air and exercise - all without needing a sitter!  This one was at Birkdale village, and K seemed to have fun.  I got to swim with her that afternoon at NOMAD - we swam for 65 minutes!  I will talk more about swimming later in the post, but let me just say that her progress (in my admittedly biased eyes anyway) has been positively meteoric as of late.  A lot of credit goes to Jenny, as she takes her swimming at least once a week outside of class.  I am trying to do it as well, as a) that gives me some time with her, b) reinforces the skills, and c) gives Jenny a bit of a break.  Daily we are seeing progress, and she's getting more and more fearless in the water (including jumping in it).  I will say that, as of the 6th, she was still not a fan of wearing goggles.  But times, they are a changin'...

Oh, and on this day (7 weeks pregnant), Baby T was officially the size of a blueberry.  And in case you're curious:

Week 6 - size of a lentil bean
Week 5 - size of a poppy seed

Going forward, I'll give these updates in the weeks where the milestone is crossed.  Out of the gate, however, I needed to play a bit of catchup. :-)

My favorite of the 3 pics from the William's house.  Eli took a chair up those stairs, and K just
plopped down like it was the most normal thing ever.  LOVE.  THAT.  KID.

5/7 - Over to the Williams clan - so this day Team Taylor rolled over to JP and Lindsey's for dinner.  They are friends from church (ran my life group this time on Boundaries with Kids) with 3 kids and live in the neighborhood.  We met them at a ServeCLT event back in December and thought they were great (I can confirm they are :-)).  We grilled out that afternoon, and K had a BLAST running around their backyard.  I was actually inspired as well, as seeing all of their toys (and their new fence) gave us some ideas about how to get more out of our backyard.  Update on that - we were so inspired by their view of the golf course that just today (it's June 1 as I type this) we ripped up 34 bushes so we'd have a clear view of the fairway! K  had a blast running around and playing with their kids, especially Ryan (she's 6 - K pretty much followed her around everywhere and did everything that she did - too cute).

5/8 - Mother's Day!  So the beginning was a bit ominous, as K started out quite fussy (I even had to stripe her in the morning.  The side note is that I did a lot less striping in May, and I do feel that I've seen better results from just the "threat" of it at this point - more about discipline later in the post).  However, as the day wore on, it got much, much better. :-)  We had a terrific church service and grilled out to celebrate Mother's Day, and on the whole it was one of relaxation and family time.  Oh, and the cutest thing that night - As K was laying in bed, she kept singing the chorus of "God is on the Move" by 7th Time Down.  She just kept shouting (we're talking no tone):  "GOD IS ON THE MOVE!  ON THE MOVE!  ON THE MOVE!"  Rinse/repeat - I mean...pretty darn cute.

5/9 - THE MIRACLE - So let's call it like it was - Team Taylor woke up ELECTRIC on this morning, as it was our appointment with Bradford.  It felt different - all the symptoms were there, the energy in the house was different, and I am being completely honest when I say we KNEW that Baby T was going to be healthy and show a heartbeat.  There were, of course, those jitters - ESPECIALLY when we went into the ultrasound room.  This time, however, it was different.  Because this time - we "struck the ground."

Some back story here - a few weeks before, I watched a sermon from Mike Griffin (Jenny had

already seen it) about "raising your prayer to God in the morning, waiting expectantly, and then striking the ground - not two or three times, but five or six or even seven times."  The point of striking the ground was to show your faith that God would hear your prayer and grant what you had asked if your heart was obedient to him and focused on him first and foremost. Now anyone who's read all three (and now four volumes) of Raise Kids with the Taylors will note the rather dramatic change in my perspective on, well, EVERYTHING since joining Freedom House.  One of the most profound areas of change has been in prayer and in a desire to submit to the will of the Father.  As James says:  "The fervent, effective prayer of a righteous man accomplishes much," and I want to be that righteous man who's prayers serve as arrows in the hands of the Almighty.  Jenny and I had been praying daily for a healthy baby, a healthy mommy, and a healthy pregnancy, and as we pulled into the Bradford clinic, I wanted to leave no doubt that I was trusting God and believing in his infinite grace.  They say "God always delivers on his promises," and let me go ahead and tell you, sports fans - he sure did this time. :-)

BABY HAS A HEARTBEAT!!!

So there we were at the Bradford clinic, getting out of our car and trying to contain the jitters.  I got out, walked over by the dirt and the trees, said a quick prayer, and then slapped the dirt - seven times. We then walked in and waited for just a few minutes before they took us back to the ultrasound room.  It was the moment of truth.

I remember it quite vividly.  Jenny and I weren't saying much.  We just waited until the lights dimmed and the ultrasound monitor was placed onto Jenny's stomach.  There was a flicker, but no sound.  I wasn't breathing at that point, desperate to know the verdict (even though I already knew it).  And then the technician said, "You won't hear anything because it's not a vaginal ultrasound, but that flicker is a heartbeat!  Baby is showing 134 - good and strong."  And then there were tears.  Lots and lots of tears. :-)

We confirmed that there was just one in there, and then came my favorite part.  They asked Jenny how far along she thought she was, and when she told the gal, she said, "You should be 7 weeks and 3 days."  She then proceeded to measure Baby T, and what do you know - SEVEN WEEKS AND THREE DAYS.  Again - RIGHT.  ON.  SCHEDULE.  God is good.  God is GREAT.  And that day will always be remembered as the first time we saw our "rainbow baby."

K was so cute throughout the entire thing.  She kept saying "Is there a baby in mommy's tummy?"  She kept touching Jenny's stomach and kissing it - too cute!  She has already told us that she wants a brother and believes that's what's growing inside Jenny.  Oddly enough, JT and I think the same thing.    It's all truly miraculous, and all glory and praise be to Jesus, God the Father, and the Holy Spirit for this truly amazing, incredible, miraculous blessing.  For our part, we were just in shock (and elated, of course!).  The shock is transitioning to pure joy and excitement at this point, but there's still some of that "I can't believe this is happening" lingering in our brain cases.  And to think about the testimony Jenny is going to have in Peru - I cannot WAIT to hear what transformational, transcendental experiences await on the other side of that trip.

5/11 - The surprise visit from Aunt Pattie - It was a bit last minute, but Pattie decided to drive down and watch her old school (Radford) play in the Big South conference tournament.  It was down in Rock Hill, so she got the chance to watch them play and hang out with her friends before driving up to spend the evening with us.  K LOVED it - they had a blast!  They played together for a good 3-4 hours, most notably on the red exercise ball.

5/13 - Criss-cross apple sauce - so this was another "so glad she's in pre-school" moment:  I noticed she was sitting on her knees (which is apparently bad for children), and so I said, "can we do criss-cross applesauce?"  Now in times previous that wouldn't get much traction.  This time, however, she did it almost instantly!    That was really cool to see.  Also, she can now put her nightgown on all by herself!  This evening was the first time I'd seen her do it - growing up!  Also, she's pretty much 100% self-sufficient going potty now.  She can get herself on the adult potties, go pee, wipe, then climb on her stool and wash her hands - nuts!  Now I will say two things:  1 - she really doesn't like to wipe, and it's been a challenge to ensure she does that (although I've noticed it's been better lately), and 2 - it's a little tricky for her to keep her balance and pull a small bit of TP from the holder.  But all in all, she's just knocking off milestones left, right, and center!

At this point in the month, the shows were pretty much consistently 30 minutes of either Frozen or Rapunzel both morning and night.  Also, I did note that she was really, really whiny this day.  Truth be told, after a bounce back in April, we're starting to see a lot of whining and pouting as of late.  I have since started writing down "House Rules," and I'm trying to be much better at telling her when there are rules and what the consequence of violating that rule will be.  As I indicated earlier, I have tried to utilize the "Boundaries with Kids" concept of empathizing with K but explaining that the rule is the rule, with my job being simply to enforce the rule (even though I always tell her I don't want to discipline her, which is true).

The good news - she swam GREAT this day at NOMAD.  Progress is almost daily at this point.  Also, she's really taken a shine to the book "Boo."  My favorite part is toward the end when she tries to pronounce "trick or treat" (she's got it memorized as per standard) - she says "Fwick or fweet."  Love that kid!

JT at 8 weeks.

And on the Baby T front - this was the 8 week mark, making him or her the size of a kidney bean.  I could go into how meteoric the development is week on week, but suffice it to say that the development and what happens to something that's an inch long is just more proof to me that God exists and has a grand design for everything.

5/14 - a triumphant return to Lake Norman - So this day saw us back at GC and Melissa's on the lake, where we were hopeful K would fare better than the previous go-around (I remember it as one of her most profound meltdowns EVER, largely due to her discomfort in the life jacket).  Well, I am THRILLED to report that this particular venture was a HUGE success, as she had a blast.  She swam in the lake twice (it was cold but not unbearable, and she kept calling it the river), had tons of great food (I mean, that kid can KILL some ice cream), played around in the hot tub (she got in twice - that was her favorite part of the whole day, as she would say, "Can I get back in the warm water, dada?", and LOVED the boat ride!  The water was choppy, and she thought the "big waves" spraying over the side was about the coolest thing ever.  I thought she wouldn't enjoy it, but she LOVED it!   She and Caden were really cute on the boat, as they were in the front, screaming at each other and making each other laugh.  Also, she was simply adorable laying on the hammock with Georgia, both girls happily swaying in the breeze with their thumbs safely ensconced in their mouths. :-)


The highlights:

The girls being treated like royalty, courtesy of their servant GC.

K swimming in Lake Norman...and LOVING IT.  

But then she found the "warm pool..."

And the rest was history...until we noticed she was turning into a lobster.

On the Baby T front - we told the "Loan Solutions crew on this day."  They had just said, "we don't have any more babies to play with"...and then BOOM WENT THE DYNAMITE.

5/16 - JT told her Life group about the pregnancy (she told Dawn as well).  The life group called her

"anointed," and one girl even asked her to lay hands!  Dawn told her that she knew she would be pregnant when she told her in January about Peru.  I mean, the pray energy emanating from these people is just amazing.  We are humbled, touched, and eternally grateful.  For my part, this was all the answer to a pray, as it gave Jenny a lot of strength and confidence with regards to her testimony and praying, as she led the life group in their closing prayer.  I had asked God to give her increased confidence in her ability to pray, and you could just see the confidence when she returned home that night.  Thank you, Father!

5/17 - She recited "Frozen - a New Reindeer Friend" all the way through for the first time.  That's a long one, so that was quite impressive!

5/18 - JT's belly. :-)  I mean, let's go ahead and say it -JT is POPPIN' OUT EARLY this go-around!  It's been crazy how much quicker she's "popped" - there won't be any hiding this soon!  Her belly button is almost gone already, and there is definitely a bump.  JT and I think she was probably 20+ weeks before she was at this point last time - insane how the body remembers and just settles in!

This evening K said her own prayers, and that was just too sweet.  After every person, she would say, "In Jesus name."  Also, we let her play in the backyard on her own for the first time.  She did enjoy running around out there - now we just need to give her a few more accoutrements to play with (that is a work in progress, but we have a list of options :-)).

5/19:  K unfortunately had a temp over 100 (we later found out it was a virus) and had to miss pre-school on this day.  That was too bad, as it was the end of school year ice cream party!  However, my wife made sure she didn't go without - K got her own here at the house. :-)  I will say that she's actually already sounding better, but all the same I'm glad we weren't "those parents" and still sent her to school.

5/20:  This was a milestone morning for K, as she took her nightgown (Ariel) off all by herself...and quickly!  I really didn't think she could do it, but then BAM!  Nakey baby TT! And on the Baby T front, the little nugget rolled 9 weeks today - the size of a grape.

5//21 - BOMB DROPPAGE!!!! So this day was OBVIOUSLY one for the ages, as we let the parents know this day!  Obviously we wanted Jenny to tell her folks first, and she told them early afternoon.  She drove down, walked in, got K settled, and then changed out K's shirt.  K then ran in with a shirt that read "Promoted to Big Sister Effective December 2016."  AMAZING!  Obviously her parents were thrilled, and then a notification to Kim via FaceTime (for the shirt, of course) was a fast follow.  I was outside Asheville doing the Black Mountain Monster, so I didn't get to call anyone until about 5:30 (which is how I wanted it, as I wanted to ensure JT told her folks first).  For mom, I had the photo of K ready to send, and so I called Mom and then said, "I have a photo from today that sums up everything."  However, the bloody photo would download onto Mom's phone!  Honestly, I chuckle now remembering how I told mom - we chatted about an hour, and for the first half hour I tried to drop subtle clues about things.  Why we were changing vacation plans, why Jenny might not go to Vegas, etc.  But then, finally, when the photo wouldn't go through as a text, I pulled over and sent it via email.  Mom got it a minute or two later, and she instantly got choked up.  I then did something I've never done before - I shared my testimony.  I specifically focused on the tithe and the amazing events at each point (especially this year), and I tried to relay how apparent it was to us that Baby T was an absolute miracle from God (she agreed :-)).  It was a wonderful, emotional conversation, and she was thrilled about it all.  Dad was, too (I got the chance to tell him later in the evening).

The shirt that connects and angel with a miracle.

Now a lot of this is in my Encounter Log, and I think I've probably related the tithe story before.  However, there is one other component that we might not have relayed before now, and I definitely want to share that.  The shirt K wore originally said, "Promoted to Big Sister Effective December 2015," as we'd purchased that when we were pregnant with what ended up being our second miscarriage (Baby was due some time in December).  We actually had the miscarriage and D&C before the shirt even arrived, and understandably Jenny didn't want to look at it when it did come.  However, something told me that, rather than tossing it, we needed to hang onto it.  And so I took that small, unopened package, and stored it in my office desk upstairs (it was this mauve/purplish
shipping package with the shirt folded up).  At the time it was just important to me that we kept it, as it, coupled with an ultra-sound photo, were likely to be the only reminders we had of a child that we'll never meet here but I firmly believe we will meet in Heaven.  Little did I know that, even then - there was a plan.  I mean, the ONLY WAY POSSIBLE that shirt could have ever been re-used from a size or date perspective was the following December, and lo, and behold - But God.

What I will say - when Jenny realized that she could re-use the shirt (before she'd even opened it) - her smile was a mile wide.  Truly, there is a grand design to everything.  I could wax quite spiritual here about all we've learned during this process and how these experiences have transformed us, but let me just simply say that we are humbled, our cup runneth over, and glory and thanks be to God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

5/22:  A little news:  So this day started with a bit of a harsh tone, as Jenny checked the CDC website in an effort to calm her mother by showing her that ZIKA wasn't in Peru...only to find that on that very day Peru had recorded their first in-country transmissions.  Now readers - for those of you reading this 20 years from now, you may have NO IDEA what ZIKA is or was, but at the time of writing it's an epidemic that has swept the Americas.  Basically it's a virus transmitted by a certain type of mosquito.  And while the virus is largely harmless to everyone, there is circumstantial evidence that it's devastating to unborn babies, causing a condition called microcephaly (among other things).  Admittedly this was rattling to us both, but at the time we agreed that we would just pray on it and see where the Lord directed us.

On a happier note thinking about progress in general, K is actually opening her closet door, picking out her own outfit (she steps on the chest that holds the ski gear), taking it down from the rack, and then dressing herself!  Seriously - she's been doing this for a week now - it's AMAZING!  Here favorite thing to wear is dresses (there is no close second), and her favorite dresses are two ladybug dresses that Vol Nana procured for her.  Oh, and she LOVES to wear her sparkle pants.  How much does she love them?  So much that we can't get her to wear shorts - even when it's a basquillion degrees outside!

Also, she's got a new nightly ritual now where she takes 2 seashells from her bathroom, puts them behind her back, and then walks into her bedroom saying, "Can anyone guess what I'm holding?"  And while it's all fun and games, we actually caught that little stinker hiding them in a drawer in the room and then getting them out after we'd said good night and sleeping with them behind Big Bear in the bed!  We finally had to monitor it (but she pulled it off on multiple occasions - even after we were aware she'd been doing it!). Clever girl!

Muffins for Mom!

5/24 - This was K's last day of Pre-school for the year (except graduation) - HOW DID THAT HAPPEN?  Looking back, we are so glad we did it and so glad we enrolled her there.  She had several great teachers, and her growth from a social interaction and confidence perspective is just amazing.  She's much more at ease around other people now, is much more willing to stand up for herself, and is definitely getting better interacting with others.

Just too sweet.

On the Baby T front, I can confirm that Bumpies are officially a weekly activity!  What's crazy is that Jenny's week 8 bump was about the same as her week 20 bump last time!  It's just amazing how the body remembers and then pops out - so cute!  Jenny looks great.  She's feeling really tired, eating tons of salt (NO SWEETS - WHO IS THIS WOMAN?), and sneezing her head off ALL THE TIME.  But hey - it's ALL worth it - no complaints here!  On the mission trip front - the Zika cases (3 of them) were confirmed in the far north, on the border with Ecuador in the rainforest (hundreds of miles from Lima).  We reached out to the prayer team today to get thoughts.  Lindsey and Carrie seemed to be in the "no" camp, and JT reached out to the outreach team to understand options on refunding/holding the money.  We were still raising it to God daily at that point, knowing that God is in every detail.  Our struggle was one of wanting to ensure we heard God's voice and did what he commanded.  We  didn't want to misunderstand and put our baby's life in jeopardy, but we didn't want to walk away from something JT felt called to do.  JT was a warrior researching and looking into the virus, the new feeds, and the situation in Peru.  I mean - that girl was talking to everybody and reading everything.

5/25:  K drops some great quotes:  So K has a nightly ritual of looking at photos on the iPhone while we put lotion on her.  Well, given that most of the photos are repeats, she's taken to saying the same things (largely copying us) as she flicks through them.  Some of the best ones:

1.  Anytime she sees one of her sleeping:  "Dat me PAAAAAAAAAAASSED out..."  And here are some of the classic pics showing that very thing:

2.  When she sees the spoiled meat we returned to BJ's:  "BAD MEAT!  I like Bad Meat!"  She will then proceed to show it to each of us and say, "Bad meat, mama!  Bad meat, dada!"  HILARIOUS!

Also, she's now doing the prayer by herself, and after every person (including the bed) she's saying "In Jesus' Name."  And another milestone - first dance class today!  It was a free class, and she must have had a blast.  We also hit the farmer's market for bounce houses and food (YES - it was a full day).

5/26 - Pre-school graduation (say WHAT?!?!?!?!?) - so this was a first for us:  the first time we've

My little "fisher of men."

seen kids go through any type of graduation ceremony.  K's little group was GREAT, as they walked out with little fish strapped on them and sang "Fishers of Men" (K actually still sings it quite a bit).  All the performances were cute, but then the 4 year olds (the graduates) started their performance, and let me tell you - I. JUST.  LOST.  IT.  I don't know what I expected, but suddenly here are these kids dressed in caps and gowns, with this gorgeous song playing, and I was blubbering like a baby.  I mean, she'll be RIGHT THERE in 2 years, and those 2 years will go by in the blink of an eye.  K was an angel and say in her mom's lap throughout the performance, and I just spent a lot of time looking at them and thinking about how quickly it all changes.

One great teaching moment today:  Jenny went to Goodwill shopping for toys for the mission trip.  K went with her, and when Jenny explained what they were doing, she said, "Kids don't have toys?"  Just Saturday she said "Daddy, is mommy in Peru giving toys and candy to the kids there because they don't have any?"  I am thrilled that she heard that message at such a young age, and I'm very much looking forward to reinforcing that with volunteer activities and other mission work in the future.

Last pic with Ms. Tara - she was great
for K this year.

Also, after much praying, this was the day where we decided God was calling Jenny to go to Peru.  We had prayed and prayed, and prayed on it up to this point (and obviously planned to continue doing so).  However, after much deliberation, we felt that Go was calling her there and telling her that's where she was supposed to be.  And as our friend Brian said, "There's no safer place than right where God wants you to be."  There's a lot I could say here (and it's jotted down in the Encounter Log should you fancy some supplemental reading), but let's just say we've seen too much and experienced too many miracles to not believe that God would protect her down there.

Oh, and on the K front, she's started wearing her hair in a ponytail.  It's TOO CUTE!  It also makes her look SO much older - my little Munchkin is growing up before my very eyes!  Also, she announced on this day:  "I wanna be a police."  She took that from graduation, where each of the 4 year olds said what they wanted to be.  It was pretty darn cute.  And speaking of what she's saying, there are 3 things constantly on repeat right now:

1.  "Why?"  I mean...it's.  Just.  Endless.  But she's still pretty cute.

2.  "When I grow up I can (insert whatever the task is I'm helping with) all by myself?"  I have gotten into the habit of always saying yes, but Jenny had to correct me when it came to standing in the cold pool, as she can't even do that! :-)  But it is pretty funny - it's always either "when I grow up" or "when I'm a big girl..."  Just stay little, wee one!  Don't grow up too fast!  It's a one way street!

3.  "Where we gonna go in the morning?"  I mean, we get this one at least 457 times a day.  As with why, I've started replying "Where do you think?"  Normally I get the correct answer...and a sly smile. :-)

Baby T at 10 weeks.

Side note for Baby T - 9 weeks on 5/27.  The size of a grape!  Holy Moly that kid is growing fast!

5/28 - Neighbor Karen's surprise 50th b'day party:  This was over at their house after church, and K KILLED some Mexican food!  This was a great day overall - church was terrific, the day was fun, and K was an ANIMAL in the pool!  Seriously - it was her fourth day swimming in a row, and she was phenomenal on this day.  We had 45 minutes of her streamlined and kicking, and then we had another 25 minutes of her floating on her back and even doing some backstroke.  And most exciting - she wore her goggles the entire time!  It was like a switch just flipped or something, as this was a meteoric improvement (but don't get me wrong - that kid is doing GREAT and progressing quickly.  Her private instructor asked me on Sunday:  "How old is she?"  When I said 3, he said, "She's doing pretty good for that age."  I like him, so that's a great sign. :-)

5/29 - Baby Qberry Shower in Floyd, VA - we left CLT about 9 AM or so on this day and made the trek up to Floyd for Cousin Marc & Kim's baby shower.  Those two have been trying to have a child for several years now, and so this child is truly a rainbow baby.  We are SO excited for them and wouldn't have missed this for the world.  The party itself was great - the food was incredible (K quite liked it all), there were cows in fields, dogs swimming in ponds, wagons to ride in - you name it.  K had a BLAST running around the house, and she also loved playing Duck, Duck, Goose with her cousins!  She even got read to be one of the adults (they did a kid's story time, and K was mesmerized).  It was just a really fun day, and we spent the night with Megan's parents.  K slept in Auntie Cici's room, which was good (she did sleep all night straight through) except for the fact that she woke up like a shot at 6:30 AM and instantly started calling out, "Mommy!  Daddy!  It's morning time!  We got down there as quick as we could, and luckily they have a HUGE basement with a basquillion toys.  K played with this little farmhouse for a good hour.  It's actually been neat to watch - she's really starting to play with doll houses, farm houses, etc, and she takes great care to set each piece up.  I even noticed this in child watch on Saturday, as she was very meticulous with each piece she selected and then pondered where to place it in the house.  Too cute.

5/30 - Gout started on me the day before, but I didn't realize it until later this day.  It was a REALLY tough day for me (as I could barely walk), but K and Jenny had a blast.  K played with balloons and ran all around the cabin (she LOVED playing with the boys).  A cute story came this morning when Maurice (Megan's dad) was sitting with us down in the basement.  K decided she needed to pee, so she just grabbed ducky potty, pulled it right in the middle of all of us, dropped her drawers, and then proceeded to fill that puppy up.  Maurice said, "We might need to teach you a little about privacy."  Too funny!

Also, the sweetest moment - when K noticed I was hurting, she asked me why I was walking funny.  I told her my foot was hurting, at which point she kissed it and asked if that made it feel better.  And then, later than night when I couldn't walk back into her room to give her a final hug, she asked, "Can you crawl in, dada?"  I mean, how do you say no to that?

The Floyd Highlights:

Because you don't actually need a body of water to enjoy an inner tube.

"Asked women..."

Great shot of the "cousins..."and K in a posture of COMPLETE DEFIANCE.

Storytime with cousin Jessica - these kids were mesmerized.

Lunchtime!

And my personal favorite, henceforth known as "Life in Appalachia."

5/31 - Lifegroup Dinner - It was just the Taylor clan and the William clan, but we had a blast hanging out with them to celebrate the end of the life group semester.  K stalked Ryan the entire time, mimicking everything she did and said.  Their cutest moment was when they walked out together under a blanket like they were hiding from us.  I mean...those are pretty cute kids.  Just sayin'...

My little hippie...

...and my little princess Rapunzel.

The life group really was a tremendous experience for me.  Not only did I learn a great deal about parenting, but I also feel I've made 2 new friends right here in the neighborhood (saw Lindsey jogging today, in fact!).  Lindsey and Jenny have definitely bonded, and Lindsey has really been a prayer warrior and great source of wisdom and advice over the last few weeks.  I feel truly blessed to have been part of their life group and feel very lucky that we'll continue seeing them, both at church and around HC.

Ok, there you have it!  May was, simply put, INCREDIBLE.  There is so much more I could (and should) write, but ultimately some of it just has to remain either in my head, in the Encounter Log, or on the cutting room floor.  And since it's taken me so long to pen this one, I now have to turn my focus to starting the June blog!  I need to "pull a Joshua" and stay the sun for a bit!

That's all the news that's fit to print.  Chat soon!

Love,

Sam and Jenny