Memorial Day Weekend 2010

My mom came to visit us for the long weekend. She got here on Thursday evening, and left Memorial Day weekend. She got a little bit of snuggle time with Taiko and a lot of play time with Taipan and Taisim. And she also helped us pretty up our front yard by planting flowers for us. Thanks, Mom!

For Christmas Mom had given Taipan a tin can robot kit. We hadn't put it together yet, and Taipan brought it out a few days before my mom got here, so we decided to wait until she was here and put it together during her visit.

As soon as we took it out of the box it was pretty clear that this was a project for Yuta. The kids enjoyed watching for a while, and Taipan thought it was pretty cool to play with, and it now sits with the rest of his robot collection.

Taisim and Grammy made one of Taipan's favorite meals - Grammy's noodles (egg noodles with soup, sour cream & bread crumbs ... and optional chicken). We actually made three batches of this over the long weekend.

Mom taking a break from planting flowers:

Yuta's sister Yuli and her husband Keith were also in town over the weekend. The came to visit on Saturday and Sunday. They brought the kids Pumpinators and clip clop stilts (not sure what the offical name of these are, but they're in the picture below). The Pumpinators are a ton of fun - they do air balloons and water balloons. The water balloons in particular have been a big hit.

We have more family coming next weekend - my dad and stepmom - and then Ling will be here the middle of the following week. We're so happy for family visits.

Yuli and Taisim:

Kids with stilts:

Simi and Taipan joining me and Taiko on the big red chair:

Yuli and Taiko on Sunday:

Cute baby pic:

Some pictures

Hanging out:

Love from siblings, Papa & Mama:

With our midwife, Bev:

Settling in

So, how was our first week with Taiko you ask? It was pretty darned good. We had a lot of support from our friends, and were able to devote a lot of time to snuggling with Taiko and making sure Taipan and Taisim got a lot of play time.

Taiko spent the majority of his week sleeping - here is a shot of him mid-week:

The first part of the week was rainy and cloudy and pretty yucky outside. Fortunately the sun came back on Wednesday, and I went on my first outing with all three kids. We went to our subdivision's playground, which is a pretty short walk away. The kids rode scooters, while Taiko slept in the sling.

Going to the park has been a daily activity since then, though today is rainy again so we likely won't go again until tomorrow.

Taisim was playing with my sling, when I reminded her that she had one of her own, so we got it out, and she carried her baby around for a bit too:

And here is our precious guy taking a nap. He's six days old in this picture. He sleeps most of the time, and Yuta and I have been able to get decent sleep as well. Our bedtime routine is a bit in flux, but I think we'll find our new normal pretty quickly.

Both of the kids love love love their new brother. Last night Taipan suggested we give him a nickname, and after much discussion Taipan has nicknamed Taiko "TK". They are all very sweet together, and I can't wait to watch their relationships grow.

Taiko Cyrus' Birthday (May 15, 2010)

Taiko was born at 2:31pm on Saturday, May 15th, 2010. He was born at home with our wonderful midwife, our two children and dear friend Kiersten present.

I'd been having strong Braxton-Hicks contractions for a couple of days, and around 3:00 am Saturday morning I began having contractions that I felt mostly near my pubic bone, and they were strong enough that I couldn't sleep through them. I got out of bed to find Yuta still awake, and he hung out with me a bit to see how things might progress. I told him to lay down after about 45 mins because it didn't seem things were going to move terribly quick.

Around 5:00 am I checked in with our midwife, Bev, and an hour later I woke Yuta up. The contractions were getting a bit stronger and closer together, and I didn't want to be alone. Around 7:00 am I called Bev back and asked her to come over. She got here around 8:00 am, and Taipan and Taisim woke up at 8:30. We had a few friends lined up to help out, so I called one of them and asked if she could head over; I told her not to rush, as we were doing ok, but thankfully she rushed a bit and was here pretty quickly, allowing Yuta and I to focus on the labor.

The labor was the hardest I've ever had - more painful and intense than the other two. Once he was ready and in position though, he came quickly. Things got very intense around 1/1:30 pm I think it was, though I need to double check the timing with Bev, as I wasn't really watching the clock. Bev did tell me afterwards that there wasn't a terribly regular pattern to my contractions - they were sometimes 4 mins, sometimes 7, sometimes 10 mins apart, and would vary in length.

I was in the tub when I had a couple of very intense, strong and close together contractions. After those I felt like I could maybe try to push. I got out of the tub and back into bed. I pushed him out during the third contraction after I got back into the bed - I think it took 2 or 3 pushes, and all in a matter of seconds. He was born facing sideways with his left hand by his head.

Throughout the entire labor the kids would come in to check up on us and see if the baby was ready to be born. They were both extremely respectful and aware of the space I needed, and they were also very sweet and loving. It helped quite a bit that they both love Kiersten and were happy to play with her and check out the fun things she'd brought for them to do.

I'm not sure if they heard me starting to push, or if someone went to get them, but both the kids were in the room when Taiko was born. Taipan saw the actual birth, but I don't think Taisim was looking.

Taiko is perfect. We were all immediately in love with him of course. Taipan is fascinated with him, and Simi is thrilled to be a big sister - she will call him "my baby brother" most of the time instead of by name.

I cannot say enough good things about our midwife or the friends that helped us out this weekend. I feel so fortunate to have such wonderful people in our lives. And my in-laws! They brought dinner on Saturday, and my mother-in-law dropped off lots of fresh fruit and flowers today.

I can't wait for the rest of our families to meet him. My mom will be here Memorial Day weekend, and my dad will come in early June. Yuta's sisters will also be in town over the next month.

Here are some pictures from the birth:

Yuta and I during early labor - still smiling. Though to tell the truth, I was pretty much smiling and talking in between contractions up until he was born. Yuta and Bev were fabulous in helping me work through the pain and keeping my spirits up.

Taipan and Taisim playing outside during labor:

He's here!! Yuta was shirtless to help keep Taiko warm while I got cleaned up a bit:

Meeting his siblings and getting some love:

A few hours after he was born:

The Other Night

Our house has been so joyful and peaceful lately, and earlier this week I took some photos of a normal evening for us these days.

After I finished work, the kids at first were trying to figure out who was going to use the TV in the living room - Taipan wanted to play xbox and Simi wanted to watch a show. Our brainstorming for solutions wasn't working too well, but after a few minutes the kids ran to the game closet to find games.

Simi chose a Madeline game (and grabbed some Pocky from the kitchen!), and Taipan brought out Snap Circuits:

Yuta and Taipan did Snap Circuits for a very long time, and it came out again later in the evening, and at least once a day since then. Taipan got that for Christmas, but has only recently been interested in it. It's pretty cool.

Taisim and I then moved on to blankets. I've been planning on making the kids fleece tie blankets before the baby is born, and took it right down to the 39-week wire. This is Taipan's almost finished (at the time) blanket. I've since finished his and hers.

Taisim decided to make a blanket too - here's hers in progress:

More Daytona

We're still in Florida. Our original plan was to leave this morning and get home tomorrow night. But we had the condo for another night and all decided that we could use another day to relax and enjoy the pool and beach, so here we are. Hopefully one day between arriving home and going back to work will be enough for me.

So the past few days have been spent visiting with my family, playing in the pools and brief trips to the beach.

Here are some pictures, with some quick commentary.

Here are Taipan and Taisim in the kids' pool at our condo. We visited this just about every day of our trip, except for one or two days that were a bit overcast and rainy. They love this pool, and it's my all-time favorite for the kids too, and the main reason we choose to stay at the Oceanwalk:

On Sunday my sister was kind enough to host my mom, dad, stepmom, brother and us for dinner. My nephew, Jason, is a month shy of 8, and he and Taipan have a common interest of weapons. Taipan was excited to see Jason's swords, guns and other battle gear. Here they are standing still for a quick picture:

And here they are executing an attack:

Elyse, my niece, and Taisim got along famously. Among other things, they ran a makeover shop (I got nails, hair, and makeup done!), pretended to be horses, hosted a carnival, and had a dance recital. In this picture they are doing a puppet show - Elyse drew characters on their hands, though they're not visible in this picture. Taisim *loves* her cousin!

Monday was an overcast day, and we spent most of the afternoon in the condo, though Taipan and I spent some time on the beach and at the pool (it was drizzling and windy). When the rain was gone, we took a walk and visited some gift shops. We got some cool sparkly key chains as souvenirs.

We spent the evening at my mom's house - more rain, and the kids enjoyed her umbrella for a bit in the back yard, and they loved playing with Grammy's dog, Rosie, and looking for her cats, which thankfully made an appearance before the end of the evening.

Tuesday was another condo day, and I don't have any pictures from Tuesday or early Wednesday because I forgot my camera at my mom's house. But I got my camera back on Wednesday afternoon when we went to my sister's house again.

This is a silly picture of the cousins - I was trying to get a non-silly one, and tried to loosen them up and get Taipan's cooperation by doing silly faces first. Silly faces were no problem. I think this is fun, though not what I think my mom would've hoped for in a framed picture of her grandkids :-)

Next stop was my dad's house. During each visit Taipan was fascinated with and loved playing with all the pets. My sister, mom and dad each have a dog, and at least one cat. He was mostly sweet and loving and gentle with them. He spent a lot of time looking for and loving on them.

Here he is carrying one of my dad's cats, Velvet:

Simi and Grandma playing Operation:

Taipan playing in Grandpa's pool:

Group shot!! Taipan agreed to be in the picture since the dog, Sugar, would be on his lap:

And my (baby) brother stopped by to visit with us too:

This has been a great trip, and we can't wait to do it again, though it will likely not be for 2-3 years, since we'll likely drive again and want the baby to be old enough to enjoy the drive.

Thanks to my entire family for being so flexible and generous during our visit!