Lane John Taylor has arrived!

Lane John Taylor arrived March 2nd, 2010 at 12:18 pm CT. He weighed 7 pounds 10 oz (rounded) and was 20.5 inches long. He is a good baby so far. He kind of gave us a scare at first because the cord was wrapped around his neck 3 times and it was pretty tight. The doctor kept saying, "Scary, that was scary!" They kept him in the NICU for an hour and a half to make sure he was ok, and then he spent the rest of our stay in my room. Breastfeeding is going great! I found a recipe for some "Lactation Cookies" that is awesome and helping me build supply. We got out of the hospital in record time, about 48 hours this time. Now, a week later I am feeling pretty good. Still kind of tired, but that will pass as I heal. So on to the pictures.

Mommy's baby bump right before surgery.
Our first picture of Lane.
7 pound 9.7 ounces
Grandpa holding the baby.
Grandma holding the baby.
"Uncle" Derek holding the baby. (I think he likes him!)
Baby feet! He has really long toes and fingers. He does not have the monster hands and feet that Ryan had.
Daddy and Lane taking a snooze in the hospital.
Lane in his "going home outfit." He didn't actually go home in it though because he had a diaper malfunction. ;-)
In the car seat ready to go. (Why does it take so long to check out?)

Kitchen Remodle Part IV

Here it is! All but the finishing touches are complete. There is still trim work to do and a few things behind the scenes, but it is very nice and very functional. Thank you, Mom and Dad, Ron and Dena, and Josh!

Here is the Southeast corner.
Northeast corner where the chimney used to be.

The new light, this is the twins favorite part.
Northwest corner
Southwest corner. Dad built corner units that are hidden so that the space is not wasted.
Josh setting some nails into the floor a little deeper so they won't grab our socks. The wood floors will get refinished this summer some time!

Kitchen Remodle Part III

Ok, the kitchen is almost done, but I wanted to show the updates in stages. SO...here is what it looked like for a while.

Notice the black tar on the floor. They did get counter top over this part with a small sink that functioned and the dishwasher hooked up.

Changes

Please pray for us in the next few weeks as we make some big changes in our life. One change that already took place is that Josh is working a night shift. It is not terrible for family life, but not great for sleeping either. He goes to work at 11 pm and gets home between 8 and 9 am. He will be home when the kids get home from school and we will still have evenings together, but it is definitely an adjustment. Also, he did not pass his engineer re-certification test in December, so he was planning to be moved to a different department, but still with the railroad. It would be a pay cut, but the hours would be more scheduled and it would be a little more family friendly we think. It appears that they do not want to loose him in the department that he is in so they are insisting that he take the engineer test again on Feb 19th. We had really prayed for God's will the last time he took the test and were completely at peace with the change of department, so we are kind of flustered with this new news. We are glad that they like him, we just thought we knew what God wanted us to do, and now there is a new twist in life. SO, we again will pray for God's will and see what happens.

The next change is that the baby will be here on March 2nd or before. (I hope not before, we are kind of on a tight schedule with the kitchen!) I know that the adjustment for Ryan is going to be a difficult one. I am not going to be able to lift him for a while and it is going to be rough sharing Mommy. Nate and Cliff don't want to sit in Mommy's lap very often anymore, so he has had me pretty much all to himself.

The third change is my work situation. We would really like for me to be able to stay home, but are not sure how the finances of that will work out. Whether I go back or not, it is going to make things tight. I would like to be able to concentrate on the screen printing shop and grow that a little more instead of trying to cram it into my evenings and weekends. If I go back to work I will probably cut my loses and try to sell it because I know I can't keep up with both.

Anyway, there it is, Josh and I have never had a lot of secrets in life, so I prefer to have everyone know what is going on so that if they think about it they can send up a little prayer for us.

Kitchen Remodle Part II

Dad made a quick trip up this afternoon and they got a few more cabinets set in. It is starting to come together! Below is the South side of the kitchen. We need to get a smaller unit to go beside the refrigerator to make everything work well, so this is not exactly how it will be. Still no sink, but maybe this weekend. The floor is almost stripped of its pretty black tar. The sanding and finishing will come after we get baby here, so probably this summer some time.

My refrigerator is finally in the kitchen. It has been in the dinning room since we moved here in May. The old one is in the garage next to the deep freeze now.


The North side of the kitchen is almost put together. I am very excited to have uppers cabinets. There is a microwave/hood vent to go over the stove that has yet to be installed and new counter tops. I also hope to get the pepper that my 2 year old sprinkled on the stove cleaned up tomorrow!
This is the Southwest corner of the kitchen. The cabinet that is in the corner will actually be turned so that it is on the West wall and we will add a different cabinet to go beside it.

Kitchen Remodel Part I

Last Friday my dad, Josh, and Josh's dad started tearing out our kitchen. We had started a little bit before harvest and torn out a chimney and a few cupboards, but this began the real project. By Saturday night the kitchen was down to the studs. Electricians came on Monday and started rewiring the kitchen. Dad has been here every day working while Josh and I are at work. Maybe we will have cabinets on the wall by next weekend.

Stll hanging in there

Week 33 of my pregnancy and things are still going very well. The baby is growing and moving a lot. A friend pointed out to me today that when he is moving while I am trying to sleep, at least he is still inside and I can sleep. If he were born I would be up taking care of him. I had not looked at it like that before. Very good point.

Dad and Josh are starting the kitchen demo project on Friday afternoon. They are taking the whole thing down to the studs and then the electricians will come rewire the kitchen. Then the reconstruction will start. New drywall, used but different cabinets, new counter tops, and a new microwave/stove hood are just a few of the changes that are being made. I am very excited to get my refrigeration out of my dining room and to have the ice maker and water dispenser hooked up! My hope is that all of this will be put back together before the baby gets here.

Josh, my mom, and Josh's mom are also working on some painting projects. The dining room, hallway and bathroom are on the agenda. Hopefully it will all turn out good!

Well off to do some screen printing. I have a big order to get done by weekend.