Sixteen..............WOW!!!1

Where do I start......Let's see, I know.....November 16th 1994. For some reason that day, I felt an overwhelming need to clean my house. They say nesting is something women do just before they go into labor. I should have known what lay ahead for that evening. I was finishing up the last of my to do list....which was to take the trash out and burn it. Of course, this lead to me smelling like smoke. Brandon had just gotten home as I was finishing and we decided to go over to his folks house to pick up the baby swing they had for us. It was around 6:30 or 7 pm, we no more than walked in the front door, I took about 3 steps and whoosh.......my water broke.

I spent the next 12 hours in labor. For the most part it was pretty easy as long as they kept the staidol coming to make the contractions bareable. At around 5:30am the Dr. had checked me and said that we were still probably a few hours away from delivery. Let's just say that the Dr. was wrong. About 10-15 minutes after he left, I felt a need to push. So they called him back in and he said, "you have about a couple hours of pushing." I am think to myself, there is no way I am doing this for two hours, so I proceeded to get down to business. I pushed and pushed and with in 40 minutes, she was here. We did not no that we were having a girl, and when the Dr. delivered her he said, "congratulations"..............Long silence.......I said, "do we have a boy or a girl?" It's a GIRL.......Since everyone had said or told us that it would for sure be a boy, since that is all Reynolds' seem to have....we figured Boy.

Taylor Lynn Reynolds was born at 6:42 am on November 17th 1994. My life was forever changed. Today, we celebrated her 16th birthday. It has been filled with so many emotions. I have cried on more than one occasion in the last couple of days. Children have so many milestones when they are small, but as they get older, they are few and far between. Today she got her license and in just 2 1/2 years she will be graduating high school. It seems like yesterday, she was running up the sidewalk to school for her first day of kindergarten. I was not emotionally ready for today. I found myself wanting to cry as she left to go and take her drivers examination. Where had all the time gone......I wondered. She returned from her exam with her quirky smile on her face and said, "Mom I did it." I was so proud of the young woman who was standing before me. With each of these milestones she reaches now, she grows up a little more each time.

I know she is growing up, but I always think back to that day when I held her for the first time. Because when I do that, she is still my little girl.

I know I need to blog more and now that school has started again, I will have more time in my day to do this. Summer is almost gone. It went by so fast, especially when you are at the ballpark watching and coaching the game of fastpitch softball. I wouldn't have my summer any other way, for in just three short years these summers will change and I will be praparing my daughter for college. But for now, this is the summer I choose. We took second in our league, which I am so proud of my girls for the hard work. Now we are into the full swing of things with high school softball.




WoW, sophomore year is here. Taylor will be an offically licensed driver in November. So many amazing changes are on the way for her this year. It sometimes seems like only yesterday that she came into this world. She changed my life in a way I didn't think was possible. I have never felt my heart so full as when I think of her and all that she has brought into my life.

Taylor is also in experiencing her sophomore year with her best friend Jessica, (who also happens to be my Goddaughter). Jess is staying with us and her grandma while her dad is on deployment with the US Air Force. The two of them have waited for this chance for their entire school life. It is such a blessing to have Jess with us. The laughter and giggles I hear from these two is priceless. It warms the soul.

More to come later and hopefully some pictures of this sophomore year.

Won't let her go far

So much has happened in the last few months. Taylor has played for a state basketball title and got 3rd, went to state with the FFA Knowledge team, they were 15th in the state. The biggest thing though is that she completed her freshman year and is now a sophmore. I have had to realize that she will complete her high school journey in 3 years. Where has all this time gone. She has went from a smiling baby, to a little girl with curls, a awkward pre-teen, to what she is today an beautiful young woman. My heart is so full of joy everytime I look at her. There is nothing in this world like the love that you have for your child. My heart feels like it will burst at every step in her life. I have smiled with her, cried with her and laughed with her. She will be 16 in 5 1/2 months, I knew that this would happen, but I didn't want to think about her growing up. As I have watched her grow and change, I am beginning to understand that I will have to let her go and become a woman. Just know this.......I won't let her go far.