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.