Dance Recital

Isabella Juliet made her stage debut a couple weeks ago when she had her first dance recital.  She had been anticipating this day since we started dance last summer, and I think it was everything she’d hoped it would be and more.  Bella got to wear a “Belle dress” and do her tap number to “Be Our Guest” from the Beauty and the Beast soundtrack.  She was enchanted with the idea of wearing makeup and earrings and having a “big bun” (which took me forever to do and even longer to learn).  Family on both sides came to watch her perform, and she impressed all of us with her stage presence and confidence.  Friends on both sides of her in line copied her moves (even when they were totally off… hahahaha) because girlfriend knew how to make it look good.  Bella proudly informed me that spent her time backstage diligently observing the big girls while they practiced.  She came home with a new set of sexy moves that didn’t at all resemble the shuffle step she’d been practicing in class ;).

     

Way to work it on the red carpet baby!

 

First Week at Home

I am so in love with my little bundle!  Here is a little photo update from our first week with baby boy:

2 Days Old:

6 Days Old:

All three of my kids have been so wonderful with Liam.  Gabe has been so patient and is such a help to me, as usual.  He loves playing with Liam, holding him for short periods – like a minute (typical male), and reading to him while he’s in his bouncer.  Gabe gets such a kick out of Liam’s facial expressions and can often be heard bursting into hysterics at the sight of Liam’s funny faces.  Ari is over the moon in love with Liam, as we knew she would be.  She never wants him out of her sight, and gets upset at me whenever I have to take him away to feed him.  Ari has been communicating a lot more with us when it comes to Liam, such as telling me when I’m being too noisy while blow drying my hair by covering her ear and pointing to Liam and telling me to feed him when he is crying.  She also mentions him constantly using her “talker”.  Ari has been learning to be more gentle with Liam, which requires basically all of her will power to reign in her excitement.  She still sometimes lets it get the best of her and taps him too forcefully on the head or sticks her finger in his mouth, but overall, she’s been a very responsible big sister.  Ari has also started learning how to tone down her voice when talking to Liam.  It is so sweet to listen to her jabber to him in her “baby voice”.  Isabella has started requesting that I call her “Big Mama”, because of her role with Liam.  She is so patient and tender and syrupy sweet with him.  I have never truly seen this side of her until now, and I love it.  She wants to help me with everything from fetching things to propping up my arm with pillows when I’m nursing to cradling him when he’s upset, and she’s been begging to change his diaper since before I even had him.  Although not a typical summer full of camping and water parks and travel, it has been a very special summer so far.  I love watching my children blossom into the great people they are becoming.

 

Liam’s Birthday

After 38 weeks and 5 days of anticipating his arrival, our new baby made his way into our lives and our hearts.  We call him Liam Chase Taylor, and he is wonderful.

I was admitted to Banner Gateway Hospital on the evening of June 5.  My labor was as easy breezy as they get, since I had an epidural as a night cap and then went to sleep for the next six hours.  When my doctor woke me at 6 am, he broke my water and things moved very quickly until Liam arrived at 7:11 am on Wednesday, June 6.  He weighed 6 lbs. 13 oz. and was 20 in. long.  His Apgar scores were 8-9.  He was as sweet and as perfect as he could be. 

Before:                                                                                                                                             After:

 

My doctor was Dr. Russell Beck, and I felt that we were in great hands the whole time.  He is a wonderful doctor, and I have total confidence in him.

Everyone said that he looked just like Jake.  I’m not sure, but I see a little of Gabe and Bella in him too.  Either way, he’s going to be a lady killer ;).

We celebrated Liam’s first day with a true birthday party, complete with decorations, flowers, party hats, cake, aunts, grandmas, and gifts.  The gifts this time were from Liam to his brother and sisters as a way thank them for welcoming him into the family.  And welcome him they did.  I loved having my family surround me and Liam as we celebrated this amazing point in our life journey.

    

Two weeks and two days later, and I can honestly say my love has grown for him with each and every passing day.  I love my little Liam, and I am so happy he decided to come into our family.

Thoughts on My Eldest

Just a few things about Gabe that I never want to forget.

Just about everything Gabriel does makes me proud and breaks my heart at the same time. He is so loyal, sensitive, dedicated, and moral. I feel like he would give the shirt off his back for anyone. Gabriel wrote on his Father’s Day “coupons” that he would give his daddy his Angry Birds “lovies”and a trophy for being the best dad. I thought that was sweet enough (it’s the thought that counts, right?), but when he actually put the lovies (which he treasures) and his very own t-ball trophy (his only trophy) on Jake’s nightstand, I got all misty-eyed. What’s more is that when I told him that he didn’t really have to give his things up to his dad (thinking he’d be relieved), he got really sad and didn’t understand why I wouldn’t want him to fulfill his birthday promise to Daddy. Bittersweet.

Gabe is a full-fledged reader. He reads at a second to third grade reading level. Right now, he’s reading Bible stories, because that’s what Grammy brought to the house. He knows everyone’s names and their relationships to other bible characters. I think it’s cool, because he’s interested in his reading material, but the stories are a little intense for a five year old boy, in my opinion. Yesterday, I corrected him for being argumentative over something trivial with his sister, Bella. I looked over at Gabe five minutes later and his eyes are filled with tears. I had all but forgotten about his argument with Bella, because it was never really a big deal. So I asked him what the matter was. He replied with sincerity, “I just need to pray all day today.” I was totally surprised at his response, because we have never really taught him about repentance or prayer in any context other than before mealtimes and bedtime. When I asked him why, he replied, “because sometimes I am mean to my sister, and I need to be sorry about that.”

I could go on and on with examples of this type of behavior. He is the one always encouraging the family to go to church. He follows all the rules in the house and makes sure everyone else does too, even in my absence. He will literally eat his entire dinner, without being forced, even if he hated it from the first bite. He laughs at all of mine and Jake’s jokes, even when they’re not funny. He tells us things that he knows will make us happy, just to see us smile. That’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Sometimes I worry about my boy, because he is such a pleaser and so self-sacrificing at times. But he gets along with everybody, and has never met a person he didn’t consider his friend. Gabe is just the best son I could ever wish for. He is a loving, tender brother; a loyal and obedient and affectionate son; and a good person overall. I feel like sometimes he even gets overlooked, because he doesn’t command attention the way his sisters do (and they do it in different ways of course). I just wanted to mention him today.

Gabe and I went to the Arizona Science Center on our Mommy-Son Date.

 

Maternity Photo Shoot

This just in: my maternity photos from my pregnancy with Liam (37 weeks)!  I was a little reluctant to have them done because of how I was feeling at the time, but I’m so happy that I did now as this was my last pregnancy and I know that I’ll look back with warm feelings on this special time.