Changes

So you may or may not have figured out from my posts that my brother and his 2 sons have moved into our home. Its exciting and terrifying and has the best and worst week ever! Some of the details I don't want to share, but lets just say it has been emotionally draining and extremely stressful dealing with my soon to be ex sister-in-law. 

I am trying to enjoy the time my brother and nephews are here in our home, because I know it could end abruptly (on the flip side it could be months and months). I absolutely love having the time with my awesome nephews and all of the Taylor boys have brought so my joy into our home! The first week my brother was here we stayed up late ever night talking and watching TV. I had forgotten how much I enjoy just hanging out with him! I love the path his life is one and it so good to see him happy after so many years of unhappiness. I pray everyday he continues on this difficult but straight and narrow path! 

Kenny has been amazing through this whole process and even though he is struggling to get used to two kids in the house, he has an awesome attitude about it. I know he loves having them here, but it is still quite an adjustment from our mellow, quiet home he is used to. He plays with the kids all the time and has been cooking dinner all week! He helps Little Brian with his homework and encourages him when he gets frustrated with it. He stops at the store and buys special treats for the boys (which I think is just adorable). We reorganized our room and bought a nice TV so he can have a little bit of a man cave when he needs to escape and have his own time. 

My brother and I also made him an office space in my craftroom and he really likes it (even though it is PINK!). Kenny says that it is the best room in the house because it is the coolest (in both the winter and summer) and he likes the nice big window and having such a big work space (both my craft tables). 

All that being said, things are good, but not easy. It is still frustrating to give up things we are used to (ie eating out, fun social activities etc) while we are trying to provide for our new 'extended family'. It is also frustrating to go to work while my brother is off everyday and enjoying our nice home and amenities... He is NOT lazy by any stretch of the imagination and he tries very hard to contribute to the household in anyway he can (ie cleaning up everyday without being asked and doing projects on the house). In the short time he has been here he already redone our backyard,  painted the office (which is his room while he lives here) and reorganized our garage! He also helps with errands and really anything that he can do, he will. 
 

Before of the "friends room" / office 

After - no more purple 

I know there are tons of people out there that have multiple families living in the same household so I wonder if anyone has tips on how to make it successful? I recently read an article that 1 in 4 homes has more than one family living in it these days! That is crazy! Our economy is crippled and there just aren't enough jobs to go around! We (my brother, Kenny and I) have talked about our fears of ruining our relationship by living together and we all want this to work... 

I can't remember where I heard this quote (maybe from the Bible), but it fits here ; "I never said it would be easy, I only said it would be worth it" Seriously, the minor luxuries we have to give up are nothing compared to providing a safe, structured home for the boys and a happy, healthy environment for my brother during this transition period. 

It's a.... Surprise!

When I arrived at the hospital around 7PM (Monday evening) , Blair and Allan were getting settled into their room. The night nurse got Blair started with the gels about 9PM. Each round of gel consisted of 1 hour of resting, 1 hour of walking and one more hour of rest before the next gel time... So we walked up and down the halls of the L&D floor chatting all night! It was actually pretty fun (probably not so much for her). In the early morning Allan got a few hours of sleep while Blair and I took about a 45 min cat nap the whole night! It was VERY cold (63 I think) in her room, which was comfortable for her and that is what is important, but I just couldn't get comfortable.

In the morning Kenny came up to visit me and brought me a QT drink and donuts : )  The day seemed long as we waited and waited for the baby come. We passed time by making a guess about the baby's weight, length and sex.  I am such a baby when it comes to lack of sleep, and for me going 37 hours on a 45 min nap was just not cutting it!! Also, I felt a little uncomfortable being there with all her family (her mom, Allan and his parents) and didn't really feel like I should be there...

It was finally time for this baby to come so the nurses busily prepared the area and the doctor came in! It was pretty intense seeing someone you care about be in so much pain and there really isn't anything you can do for her! I was a leg holder until we were allowed to take pictures (after the baby's head was out) and then the super awesome nurse told me to get my camera ready and she took over the leg holding. Blair pushed a few times and then we could see the head (full of black hair) coming out. She was really dark complected and very purple looking when she came out. 

She was crying and no one seemed concerned, but I was! Turns out her poor little face was bruised from delivery. At first the doctor said, "we have a line backer here!" and we all thought that meant it was a boy, but I think he was referring to her size, because he finally announced, "It's a Girl!" as laid her on Blair's stomach. She was 9 lbs 2 oz and 22 inches long and born at 2:26 PM. I think it was love at first sight for Allan. There was lots of commotion and Blair instructed me to just keep taking pictures... I took about 110 in that 15 min block of time!

After they got her all fixed up she went to reach for something at the end of the bed and was so excited that she could lean over! It was funny. Watching someone have a baby is such a trip! One second you are feeling her belly and the next you are holding this amazing little 'purple' creation! From the time the doctor walked into the room it took only 4 mins before Hailey was born! It seemed longer, but at the same time it went so fast I missed a lot!

After spending almost 20 hours at the hospital I was more than ready to go home and Blair wanted to rest anyway. It really was an amazing experience and I am so glad Blair let me be part of her special day (s)!

PS Here is the quilt I made her : ) 

5 kids!

Tonight Michelle and Trevor cashed in their Christmas gift from Kenny and I - 4 hours of babysitting- so they could have a night out. PLUS we had the boys... that is FIVE children under the age of 5! (5,4,2 and the 1 year old twins). Craziness! I mentioned to my friend Melodi what we were doing and she offered to come help! She has a degree in children's education and is a teacher (I think 5 year olds). It was the easiest babysitting experience EVER! The babies were happy (which they usually are), the 3 boys played outside together and we had fun. 

 The boys played wii 

 and Matt clapped when Little Brian got a strike!! It was adorable - 

 Little Emma

 Jacob got a little jealous of Zack. Zack likes to pretend tickle my feet and I laugh and laugh and then tickle him... Jacob watched us for awhile and then took his socks off and laid down next to Zack and asked me to tickle him. Also, I was sitting with Zack in my lap and Jacob came over and basically sat next to Zack in my lap and inched him out until he was in my lap and Zack was next to me. 

 They boys said they liked babysitting and that Emma was so cute. 

 Melodi read a few books to the kids and they really enjoyed it.

 Zack chillin' (notice little Brian in the background totally engrossed in the Veggie Tales movie) 

While Mel and I were babysitting Kenny went out to the Barret Jackson Car auction/show in Scottsdale. He was supposed to meet up with some friends but they were an hour and half late so he ended up leaving shortly after they got there. He said there were some AWESOME cars there... the fastest car in the world, a million dollar car and lots of classics. 

Scrapin Sampler

Saturday morning my friend Jackie and I went out to Mesa for the Scrappin' Sampler at Scrapbooks etc. It is a sampling of classes and they do it once per quarter. It is such a neat event and it only cost $2.50 AND you get that back in store credit! 

Here are the projects we made- A card, a small book to keep track of b-days (perfect for one of my new years resolutions) and a flower for your hair! 

We had a quick lunch at Subway before heading back to our side of town. It was super fun, but I really miss my mom going with me to all these fun classes. 

Double Date

Tonight we had a nice night out with friends. We met up at the Chuck Box for a quick dinner and then headed off to the Tempe Improv to see Craig Shoemaker. The opener was good, Craig was awesome and the company was even better. It felt good to get out and laugh. Afterwards we had some frozen yogurt at Yougurtini. 

The sound of laughter

Pawn Stars

Kenny is in Vegas this week and today he found the pawn shop on Pawn Stars (the show on the history channel)! Its actually right ON the Strip. He went in and got to look around and even recognized pieces he saw on the show!  How fun! I am super jealous :) 

Jackie and Jackie

Tonight I was blessed to spend an evening with my two friends both named Jackie. Jackie K. is my friend from work who I have been going to craft classes on and off for about a year and Jackie F. is my piano teacher I met this summer at the Bible study I participated in. We carpooled out to Mesa together and Jackie K surprised us with delicious Carolina's tacos to eat on the way out there. This was Jackie F's first Scrapbook's etc class and we were so excited for her and just knew she would be as impressed as we were with the whole set up.

We made these cards:


There is so much going on in our lives right now it was nice to have a night to retreat away and just talk and laugh and have someone listen who doesn't have an opinion about what needs to be done. I am lucky to have these very nice, caring,  Christian women in my life.

I came home to a nice clean picked up house and a fridge fully stocked up with water thanks to my brother. It is nice to have someone in the house that does little things to help us out. He even remember to buy dog food for our little piggies (which I didn't even remember and Kenny is in Vegas all week!) and returned the movie I had rented on Monday night.  It has been a crazy week and we are only half way through it!

A Prank

I don't watch The Office, but my buddy does and we got an idea to put our friend's computer mouse in jello! Okay we didn't put his actual computer mouse, but one that looked just like his... it was funny, even though our jello fell apart! 

He thought it was funny (and sticky and gross) 

Unfortunately someone else in the office didn't think it was funny and complained about us being unprofessional and disruptive to others : ( 

Grandma's Birthday

This evening we celebrated my grandma's birthday with a girls night in.  My mom and I went over and we had pizza and cake and opened presents. Then we watched Eat, Pray, Love because we had all been wanting to see it.

 Lucy was way jealous of grandma's cozy cuddles Lion! It has scented beads in its belly and when you microwave him he stays warm and smells good... 

When I got home the boys were still awake (although they shouldn't have been since it was past 9). Little Brian said, where you been? I said, "I went to work and then to Grandma's house." He said,  "Oh. But this your house and I not find you any where and I look all day. I miss you today." Isn't that cute!? And then Jacob told me that he farted and laughed... ah... life with boys = cute to disgusting in 2 seconds flat.