Hathor the Cow Goddess

Xavier. <3 7 months.

Well, a couple days short of 7 months. But good enough. The product of me wasting time before Xaviers bed time.

Getting too big.

How did my babies grow so fast?

Gabriel will be 20 months old on Friday. Four months away from being 2 years old. He shocks me everyday with how much he understands. It's easy to forget how incredibly smart he is, considering he cannot constantly remind me by verbalizing. No, he's not really talking yet. And I'm not worried. He shows an increasing ability to comprehend and attempt to communicate with us - so I don't mind that he's not talking yet. [He says a few things, but not much.] My friend Mel was over the other day and asked Gabe to get her wipes for Ainsley's bum - and he ended up walking all the way to the first floor and tossing down diapers. He understood she needed something for Ainsleys bum. Every morning, as soon as he can get into the backyard, he finds all the dog poop for me. And if I don't get out there fast enough, he finds the pooper scooper and tries to pick it up himself. Considering he hasn't had much interaction with children his age, he is very good with sharing. He loves to give other people/kids his food/feed them and share his toys. He is so good with his little brother. He's constantly giving him hugs and kisses. Xavier is not getting to the age where he can somewhat interact with Gabriel, and there are times where they play together on the floor with a toy.

Xavier.. he's going to be 7 months old on Saturday. I'm going to have a two year old and a one year old in 5 months! He's been crawling for a few weeks. Army crawling, but it gets him where he wants to go. He sits up by himself, and he has started to refuse pureed food - so we've moved onto easy finger foods; such as bananas, blue berries, cut up grapes, crackers, etc. He's doing really well with them. He's had zuchini on a few occasions. I'd like to steam up some baby carrots and see how he does with those. He's got two teeth, and is working on cutting two more. It makes getting him to sleep at night difficult - he wakes up bawling, because he's in pain. :( But they should be cutting thru soon.

I am so glad that I parent the way I do. It has really helped me appreciate every moment with my children. So, I rocked Gabriel to sleep every nap time and every night until he was 10 months old - I can hardly get him to give me a hug now. I cherished those 10 months he let me rock him to sleep. I wear Xavier to sleep every nap time and every bed time now - and there will be a time where he learns how to put himself to sleep and I will have lost that special bonding time. I can't believe how many people get told not to hold their babies or rock their babies to sleep in fear of spoiling their children. They are only babies for a very short time. Cherish every moment - because one day those moments will no longer be there, and you'll look back and wish you would have enjoyed them more.

A Day at the Beach.

Melissa, Joe, Ainsley and all of us went to Wasaga Beach this afternoon. The guys dropped us off with the kiddos while they went fishing for a bit, and we hung out at the park and ventured off to the beach. It was the first time I have been to Wasaga. It's a cute little tourist town outside of Barrie. There are several beaches, and they're actually pretty nice. Better than I thought they would be. Gabe thoroughly enjoyed his first time playing in a big body of water. Xavier hung out on my back in the baby hawk until George got back from fishing, then we all hung out ankle-deep in the water. Well, except George - he has this incredibly large fear of water. You couldn't even get more than mid calf deep for atleast a 1/2 mile into the water - but he was "getting dizzy" just thinking about stepping into the water. o.0

Miss Thunder Thighs!

Mister Party Pooper

A new beginning.

I've belonged to a blogging site for several years that is now becoming the equivalent of a inner city's ghetto. No, really - it's bad. The site administrator is incredibly neglectful, and what happens when there is no one to watch the kiddies? Well, lots of immature drama, that's what. Starting new can be scary, but I've gone thru a lot of changes recently. Might as well throw this one in along with it all.

Hi. My name is Taylor. I'm a small-town girl from Illinois. I met my husband while working at Dunkin Donuts. He couldn't resist my coffee makin' skills. I took my first real risk in life when I moved 12 hours away with him, after a mere 3 months of dating. I was barely 16 and he was 27. When I met him I was just coming out of a pretty bad place in my life, and taking the risk I did was the best thing I could have ever done for myself.

I'm not saying it was easy. It may have been the best thing, but it certainly was not easy. George and I had a lot of kinks to iron out in our relationship. I had issues, he had issues... but we worked on it. And almost 4 years later - we're still here and strong.

We conceived our first son, Gabriel, on our 1 year anniversary. We got married June 17th, 2005. And Gabriel Elias was born December 31st, 2005 - a perfect gift for the new year. When Gabriel was 3 weeks old, we made a big move to Canada. I took Spanish in Highschool thinking it'd be a smart move with Spanish becoming the second language in the U.S. Heh. I should have taken French.

We moved to Montreal, Quebec. I loved playing the mommy role so much, we intentionally got pregnant when Gabriel was only 4 months old. Yes, my boys are 13 months apart. Xavier James was born on February 1st, 2007 - at home. I had the most beautiful home birth after cesarean, with the most wonderful and supportive midwives I could have ever found. My homebith with Xavier healed so many scars I had gained with Gabriel. I still remember vividly pulling him up to my chest from in between my thighs and crying out, "I did it. I can't believe I did it! My body isn't a failure."

Yes, I'm one of those Moms who hold labor and birth very dear to her heart. I've always been enthralled with pregnant women and birthing babies. I just never thought I'd be taken down the path of homebirthing. Now? I wouldn't do anything else.

We now live in Barrie, Ontario. I don't foresee another move in the near future. I'm certianly not up for another move considering George and I have moved 5 times in our 3 years together. My boys are almost 20 months and almost 7 months old now. I'm very much enjoying living in an English speaking province, and coming out of the shell I hid in for almost 16 months. I didn't deal will with the language barrier in Quebec. Now that we're in Ontario, I'm excited to get back into my first passion; dogs.

Oh, we have 3 dogs. And 2 cats. And a snake. And a fish tank. It's a bit of a zoo around here. At any given time there's bound to be a few animal hairs floating around. No matter what I do I just can't get rid of it all - but it's the price you pay for the love of animals. My heart is in dog rescue. And I adore dog training and showing - just haven't had the time with two small kiddos. I'm hoping to get back into it soon.

And hubby and I are fighting the urge to conceive another bundle of joy. How can we help it? We make beautiful babies.

Life is grand. Not to say there aren't ups and downs like everyone else - but the overall picture, I love my life and wouldn't change it for the world.