Taylorism: Mother-in-Law Edition 1.0

You might be wondering why anyone would write about their mother-in-law.  We have all seen enough Everyone Loves Raymond to know that the MIL/DIL relationship can be notorious for many things, but cherished moments hardly make the list.

While my MIL and I have a few things in common (I mean, hello, I did marry her favorite! It's ok, I think his siblings know.), we have a LOT of differences.  With that said, I have to say that I am blessed beyond measure to have an incredibly supportive, godly woman in my corner backing me as a wife and mother.  

Now, Linda (that's her name, didn't you know?) has three children.  All of whom do their fair share of picking on her.  I am no exception to this family past time, as it seems to be my husband's favorite way of relating to most everyone in his life...including me.

(Here's a hint Sweet P: a nice card and some M&Ms might win some brownie points!)

(Mmmmm...brownies!)

Anyway, Linda comes to visit much more now that she decided that she was too good to work.  Well, not really.  She retired after a very diligent 40+ years as a Deputy Clerk of Court.  Seriously.  FORTY+ YEARS!  She's 61 y'all.  Who does that these days?  

She does so many things that literally crack me up.  I get the biggest kick out of sitting back sometimes and just listening.  And when the time is right (and it's almost always right), I start picking on her for whatever the most recent Taylorism (Taylor is her maiden name) might be. 

Case in point:
Linda just spent five days here (a short tenure compared to the seven weeks she helped us after Everhett's birth).  I came home from the store on Monday evening because it's Labor Day and like all good Americans we were going to cook out, daggum it!

Aside from the fact that it's a holiday, my MIL was on the phone with Verizon complaining about their online system not accepting her payment...FOR OCTOBER.  Y'all, the bill had just come out for September.  She told the kind lady that she just likes to stay ahead on things like that and would like to pay.  The lady told her to check back later.  So, I think it's safe to say that we all know what Linda will be doing next Monday.

Now, what's sad is that this isn't the first run in she's had with Verizon not wanting to take her monies.  

No sir.  

Not at all.  

In fact, just a few short months ago I'll have you know that she went in to pay a bill (because it has to be done in the store, don't you know).  Well, that ornery little kiosk wouldn't take Linda's money.  So she went up to the counter and asked a nice gentleman why.  The exchange went something like this:

Linda: "I can't pay.  I pay on my bill in the store every two weeks when I get my check.  The machine won't take my payment.  I can't pay.  Why can't I pay?"
Gentleman: "Mrs. Harris, you do understand that you have a $200 credit, correct?"
Linda: "Yes sir, but I like to stay ahead on things like that.  So why can't I pay?"

Now, God bless this man.  I'm sure I would have been laughing at her.  Had my husband been there, he would have looked and him and told him to take the blessed money.  I'm not sure how this scenario turned out, but I'm 99.9% sure that SOMEHOW dear, sweet Linda got that man to take her money.  She can't fall behind, y'all!

Ladies and gents, meet Linda.  I hope you have enjoyed what I plan to continue as a new feature on the blog.  Be sure to check back soon for more Taylorisms: The Linda Editions.  I have a lot more where this came from!

In all seriousness, she's the best Grammie to our sons and our nieces...and I thank the Lord that I have this woman in my life.  She is, after all, free entertainment. ;-)


Kristin

Little Man is 2!

Emory hates pictures.  It literally took me until Mother's Day to get the one above.  I give up!

My how things change in 12 short months! Here's last year's picture:

Since his birthday fell on a Tuesday this year, we decided to pack up and head to South Carolina.  Daddy had to work, but I think he appreciated the break after the weekend zoo trip. 

Emory explored with Grammie by the pond, visited Uncle Chris at the fire station, taught those boys how real men wear their hats, devoured Aunt Diane's delicious Thomas cake, and blew bubbles with Taylor.  

Needless to say, the oh-so-essential daily nap was missed.  It didn't get nasty until mama wanted a posed picture.  This is the best I got during the ensuing meltdown:

Ah toddlerhood!  

(I fully intend to be THAT mom that keeps an arsenal of pictures like the one above in a secret box only to break them out during the most unfortunate times in their future. My boys are going to LOVE me.)

Until next time,

Kristin

Emory's 2nd Birthday!

I'm not even going to apologize for being absent for 4 months.  I have two sweet boys that pretty much consume my whole day, and rightfully so.  Not to mention, blogging felt more like a chore I had to complete before going to bed.  Therefore, I took a break.  I'm back, at least for a moment.  If I disappear again, you can safely assume that I'm buried under a pile of spit-up, Thomas trains, and happy grins.  Judge me if you dare!

So WAY back in April, our Sweet E turned 2!  Seriously folks, where are the breaks to this train?  It's going by way too fast.  Since I was a mere three months post-partum and still (justifiably) swarming from lack of sleep and around the clock feedings, we decided to skip the whole fuss of a party and spend some family time together.  I think we may keep this tradition going.  It seemed to mean more and was much less stressful.

The weekend before his birthday, we went to the zoo.  Phillip and I haven't been to Riverbanks Zoo in several years, but we packed up the boys, met my sister and her boyfriend and Grammie in Columbia for lunch, and then headed over for an afternoon of animals.  

Ok y'all, everyone in North and South Carolina must have had cabin fever that weekend because at least half of both states' combined population was at the zoo.  

No lie. 
(Ok, maybe a little lie.)  

Seriously though, there are a couple of Southern cities that prove to be hotter than 20 thousand hells and more humid than the Amazon during monsoon season.  May I introduce one of them: Columbia, South Carolina.  It wasn't pretty folks.  This girl wasn't glistening, I looked like a basted turkey when all was said and done.  We had fun, oh did we have fun, but next time we will be visiting on a weekday and when it is cooler!

I'm not commenting under each of these, but please note a few things:

1. My sons adoration for his father's interests.  This concerns me only because Phillip secretly moved a Columbian red-tailed boa into his mama's house when he was living there.  If one of y'all find me on your front porch with a suitcase, you are safe to assume something similar has just taken place at my humble abode.
2. My sister is, without fail, always inappropriate.  This is also why she and Phillip get along so well. 
3. We could have called it a day once we hit the bubble machine. Seriously, it was Emory's favorite part of the zoo.
4. You think that's a sweet picture of Phillip and Emory until I tell you that they are staring at the red butted baboons (come to think of it, are there any baboons without red butts?) and Phillip is threatening to do the same thing to Emory's butt if he doesn't straighten up.  Parenting at it's finest, ladies and gents.
5. Decent family pictures are a thing of the past.  This is the best I've got!

We grabbed dinner with Grammie before heading out of town. Little Man was OUT before we even left Columbia.

We survived! Praise Jesus! Glory, glory, hallelujah! We will try again when they are 15 or so.

The following weekend, the Powerses came to visit.  We grabbed the wee ones and headed off to the much anticipated Great Wolf Lodge.  Granted, this is a whopping 30 minutes from our house, but you have to stay in order to use the water parks.  So we made a night of it.  Holy craziness! Four adults (the maturity levels of which are a bit questionable), two 2-year-olds, and a 3 month old...let's just say we had fun!

I know what you're thinking: Poor Ella Kate having to deal with all those boys.  Well, let me tell you!  That girl can handle herself.  Good thing too!  Mama and Daddy Powers are adding little brother, Cooper into the mix sometime this December and we couldn't be more excited!

I'll post pictures from the actual day of his birthday soon.  I just wanted to throw up the celebratory ones. 

 Kristin

3 Months of Everhett Preciousness!

This post should have appeared on the blog in April; but as life with two little ones goes, when showering becomes a luxury blogging takes a back burner.

Everhett is quite a conversationalist.  He loves to be talked to and has recently taken to cooing back.  Unfortunately, as things have gone with the beginning of Everhett's sweet little life, he spent a good deal of time sick.  We had to take a trip in to visit the doctor a few days after the 10th, so we got to see how much he's gained (and boy is he good at gaining)!  Seriously, three months and 14 lbs. 10 oz.  This kid takes eating quite seriously!

That's definitely a 6 month onesie.

Caught him mid-convo. 

I love this little double chin.

Still has the blue eyes.  Maybe they will stick?

I am only including this picture because I captured a similar one of Emory at the same age.  Both make me laugh.

 

 
Everhett is quite a captive audience, especially for his older brother.  Emory's affection seems to be waning a bit.  As it turns out, he believes that every toy in our house belongs to him.  Normally, he shares with his lady friends, but has no interest in sharing with boys.  Everhett is no exception to this rule.  :-/ I'm hoping we will be able to breeze through some of these behavioral hiccups and the boys will grow up to be best buddies...I pray!


Kristin

Grammie the Great

Prior to having Everhett, I had a few issues with the pregnancy and we weren't sure how the whole birthing process would happen compared to Emory's emergency induction.  So we arranged for Phillip's mom to come up and help with Emory when I went into labor and after we brought the baby home.  At the time, we had no idea how much we would need Grammie.  Linda got here the Tuesday before Everhett's Thursday morning debut...and stayed for seven weeks.  For real!

She helped us through Everhett's unexpected hospital stay.  It was such a comfort knowing that Emory was at home with someone I trusted, especially since the only time I had ever left him was for emergency surgery.  It broke my heart being away from him, but it blessed us beyond words having her at our house with Emory.  Grammie even helped Emory video chat with us while we were gone.  Plus, Emory knows how to wrap those grandparents around his little finger.

Once we returned home, she helped with the transition from one to two babies, made meals, helped clean, babysat the baby so we could have playdates with big brother, etc.  We were sad to see her go, but so thankful for the time she was here!

We missed Christmas in Florence, so she came with gifts.  Emory LOVES this wagon.

First time holding Everhett.

 

Emory always likes to "help" (thankfully Grammie is patient with his assistance).

So Grammie shopped for a new car to replace this one the whole time she was here.  During the last week, she made the leap. 

Teaching Emory how to drive the new car.

Yay!  Congrats to Grammie!

Funny story: Everhett hit a growth spurt and really started downing some milk.  So one afternoon Phillip got the box with our 8 ounce bottles down from the attic.  We left the bottles on the counter for me to clean when we got back from the pool with Emory.  Grammie stayed home and kept Everhett.  We came back and found this:

In trying to be helpful, she boiled our bottles because that's how they did it when Phillip was little.  She even said she tried to reshape them while they were warm.  We died laughing...and Grammie kindly bought us all new bottles for Everhett.

I thank God for blessing me with a mama's boy as a husband and for his mama being a wonderful mother-in-law!  Thank you for everything, Grammie Harris!


Kristin

Resurrection Sunday

Everyone keeps telling me that going from one child to two is much more difficult than zero to one or two to three.  I hope they are right.  Most days we do just fine, but I keep the boys at home.  Anytime we have somewhere to be, I literally start the process of getting ready over two hours in advance.  It's insane!

This Sunday was no different.  Everhett picked a really inconvenient time to cluster feed, but in his defense I don't think he really got the importance of the day.  Phillip and I were adamant that we would make it for our second church appearance since Everhett's birth since everyone on our end was doing better in the health department.  

We made it, tired, late, and haphazardly put together, but we made it!  It is so refreshing to walk into church after a crazy morning to smiling faces just ready to welcome you and share God's love.  This is what God meant by fellowship with a body of believers.  Our Life Group had a great lesson and it gave us a chance to regroup.  

Lunch was less than successful thanks to two tired buddies, but we're still trying and this was our first real out to eat experience as a family of four.  Slow and steady is apparently going to win this race.  Phillip said that we would try again when the boys are older, like 10 and 12 kind of older!

We came home to snap a few pictures.  Oh my.  Let's just say this first one pretty much captures my life right now.

Everhett just wants to eat, Emory is in his own little world not caring a thing about this photo op, Phillip never lets a chance to act like he's 5 pass him up, and I'm just holding on until nap time. 

This one is decent only because Phillip was still amused with himself and Emory saw a plane.

Daddy and his Mini Me.

Uncle David ran in the mud with Emory after pictures.  Perfect way to burn that energy before nap.

The boys both got Easter baskets full of goodies.  I really do try to remain practical when buying them things for holidays like this though.

Emory isn't really allowed to have candy, but I got him one pack of Mini M&Ms.  Fortunately, he has no idea what they are, but you can tell by this picture that he is well aware of what's in this box.

Thomas coloring books and DVD, Jesus stickers, number decals, nerf football, bathing suit and top, and of course new pacis with a big boy toothbrush were all basket essentials.

This is the face I get when he's getting something that he really enjoys, but knows I probably don't want him to have.  Vanilla yogurt covered raisins in Easter pastels are a win-win for all parties involved!

Everhett melts my heart. I mean, how could you not love that face!

Emory was more than happy to help with brother's basket.

Emory climbed up to "hold Rhett," then lost interest 2.5 seconds later.

It's so easy to get caught up in the pomp and fluff of Easter, but I hope you celebrated what happened over 2000 years ago.  The single greatest moment in history that eventually became the single greatest purpose of my life: the resurrection of my Lord and Savior.  He is Risen!  

As I read Emory his Easter story book tonight, in its simplistic tone, I silently prayed a prayer that he would accept the Lord as his Savior early in life.  He turned around, as he does every night after we read his books, folded his hands and together we prayed his bedtime prayer.  He knows it's a part of our life, but I can't wait until I see his love for the Lord manifest itself.  This is my first and primary hope for our children.  

 Kristin