Edited:  Wow.  Taylor you need to learn to iron.  Your an adult now.  I will teach you! 

She arrived in town late Saturday night and I got the early phone call on Sunday at 8:00 am.  “Momma, are you awake?  I am ready to come home.”  So I rolled out of bed and met my ball of energy on the front porch.  She was talking a mile a minute about 50 different things that she did in the past week.  When her Dad left she crawled in my lap on the front porch and gave me the biggest hug she has ever given me.  Having her back is good and I feel like I always do when she has been gone a few days; she has grown a lot.  She says new things and has new stories to tell. I love having her home because it never feels right without her.

I thought a lot (probably too much) about the possibility that I may not have a new job in October.  I thought about this while she was gone because when she is home I barely have the time to think.  I may not be getting a job right away and I think that is going to be ok.  I will manage and I will have more time for Madi.  Something that I have wanted for a long time.  I have missed out on a lot of things and let others do them for me.  Like picking Madi up every day from school and being there to hear about her day.  I want that and I know Madi wants that.

I have also been thinking a lot about music and how Madi used to listen to it every night, all night when she was a baby.  And she rested.  Lately she hasn’t been sleeping all that great.  I can tell she is tired when she gets up and this will only get worse when school starts.  So this weekend I bought something she has been asking for.  An early birthday present.  I bought her an iPod of her own so that she can listen to music while she is going to sleep instead of watching a movie.  Last night was the first night and boy could I tell a difference.  Maybe it was being home and comfy or maybe it was the iPod.  All I know is I woke up to find her in my bed, bright eyed, ear phones on and dancing around the bed to her favorite music.  This made me smile and right now I am smiling as I type this.

I hope that this makes her feel safe when she is drifting off to sleep.  I also hope this puts a lot of dust on the TV because she stops asking to watch it.  I would much rather hear music blaring from her room instead of some Disney movie with very little meaning.  She told me last night that she has been writing songs and I can’t wait until she learns to write.  Because the songs she has in her head are beautiful and funny, just like her.  So now I feel like I am more plugged in as a parent and Madi feels more plugged into music.  That’s not a bad thing, right?

• There is a new guy in my life (His name is Ryen – more on that later…)
• Madi got a new dog – her name is Chloe Bear and she is a Great Pyrenees
• My Dad is sick and has been in the hospital for 2 weeks
• We cooked our first turkey for Easter
• Taylor went to his first Prom and dressed like a total nerd
• Madi attended her first “Real” concert and got to see Ryen play and also went on stage with him (highlight of her night)

For those of you who know my Dad – He is holding his own and doing better than we could have ever hoped for.  He is getting stronger every day and we are all holding hope that he will make a full recovery.  I have spent the last two weeks second guessing everything I have said or not said to him.  I now know that none of that matters – he is with us now and I am taking every opportunity to tell him all those things, that for over 48 hours, I never thought I would have the chance to say again.

I know that you have all heard this at some point in your life – Don’t take things for granted, tell the people in your life that you love them, spend time with the ones you love – quality time.  We truly do not know how long we have on this earth and the last thing you want is to be standing next to a hospital bed wishing you had said something or done something differently.  It is a hopeless and lonely feeling, one that can be prevented by slowing down and enjoying the friends and family around you.

Check out the Flickr badge on the right for the newest pictures of the family.  Love to you all!

Taylor

Originally uploaded by CrazyForHer

I took this picture at the last game I attended. The original picture is a little out of focus but it was the only one that really showed how well he jumps. Taylor and I share a hobby of sorts. We both like to take crappy pictures and fix them with really cool online tools. This one was saved by Picnik which is quickly becoming my editor of choice. I have Photo Shop CS, Paint Shop Pro X and several others but this one is quick and easy. Plus you can take pictures of your kids and make them look 10 feet tall with the cool tools included. Although parts of it is free the really cool parts are not. But for 24.95 a year, I couldn’t pass it up.

I love watching Taylor and Madi walk side by side. He is over 6 feet tall and all legs. She is this bouncy little 4 year old and barely hits him at his knees. Every store that we went to seemed to be playing loud dance music. Madi danced and Taylor looked at shoes. But the thing that impresses me about Taylor is he never stopped paying attention to Madi. He danced along with her while trying on shoes. When he found a pair that he thought he liked, he ran down the isle because Madi insisted that you HAD to do this before a shoe purchase. He complied with everything she asked of him and I really think he had a good time doing it. There are not many 16 year old boys that would think it was cool to hang out with their Aunt and 4 year old cousin at the mall. Of course I was buying him shoes….

Madi is in love with the photo booths at the mall. We have had our pictures taken in one almost every time we visit. Last night she asked Taylor if he would have his picture taken with her, he said “Sure!” and off they ran to the photo booth. He took one strip of pictures and I took the other. He told Madi that he was going to hang them in his bedroom on his dresser mirror and you should have seen the huge smile on her face. Madi never asked for a single thing at the mall. She was just happy to be walking next to the tower of skinny arms and legs. Ok, he really isn’t skinny anymore and it makes me sad to say that. He is growing into an adult faster than I would like but he is a great “kid”.

We drove him home to “insert far away place here” and it was late when we pulled in his driveway. Madi was so tired but still asked Taylor if he would play basketball with her. I know that Taylor was probably ready to go in and call his girlfriend but he shot baskets with Madi for 30 minutes before I finally pried her away from him. I couldn’t be more proud of Taylor right now – Straight A’s, Perfect Attendance, The Art Award and JV Basketball – All of this and he still has time to shoot baskets with a 4 year old. We don’t see him as much as we would like to but we will enjoy every minute that we get!