a day in the life

And just like that, he was one.

Doesn't it seem like just yesterday when Bean looked like this?
It certainly does to me. Or perhaps you remember him like this.
However you look at it, he has grown up and changed a lot this year.
He still has his gorgeous blue eyes that crinkle when he smiles and his Daddy's long forever long lashes.

And a super sweet smile.

And personality?


Yes. He has a lot of personality.

No seriously, a LOT of personality.

He loves pretty much any food I put in front of him sans avocado (which I haven't tried again because wow they have been expensive) and twice now has been very tentative about cake (video soon.) Still goes to bed at 7:00pm and still nursing although I can see that he will be done with that soon. I will be very sad when that is over as I have nursed him longer than the other two and that is just my favorite time to play with him. He is super ticklious under his arm pit, and I love hearing him giggle. He is nearly impossible to change thus we give him non-baby, and well, let's face it, semi dangerous objects to keep him occupied during diaper changes. I am talking thermometers, big kid toys, and Vick's containers. He now can say Mama, Daddy, ball, and yesterday said Yakson in a whisper. He loves to wrestle with Charlie, loves to pull Lillian's hair, and LOVES to be chased. He can totally get past our toy barricade and although still has the oddest crawl I have ever seen, still is not trying to climb steps or walk. We enjoyed his first Christmas a pull here or there on the tree, but he is a very good listener when we say "No touch."
I can't believe it was a year ago that I came home from the hospital with him. Still sore from the SPD and the worst decision I have EVER made in my entire life, getting a stinking tetnus shot. I forgot how much those hurt.
I still kick myself for not getting a single photo of Jess
who answered my call at 2:30AM!! and drove all the way from DE to help me through the delivery, or DADDY who of course is his DADDY until much later.
But don't worry Bean, Daddy held you all the time. So there you have it. Bean, Jack, Jackson is one. ONE. Or, as we said at his party, Uno.
Love you so much Bean

love, Mama

Hello, goodbye; More or less.

This was a year of hellos and goodbyes.

Bj: Goodbye to being gone every week. Hello to going to an office everyday. Goodbye to car allowance. Hello to best friends, game nights, family and old friends. Goodbye to Football on the computer. Hello to games on TV.

Marie: Goodbye to dear friends in PA and more distance between the friend in DE. Hello to dear friends in Ohio, family, trips to see brand new babies, and familiar streets. Goodbye to photography business in PA with families I have watched grow through the years. Hello to growing a business here.

Lillian: Goodbye to dear friend I, Uga, and a bedroom in a tower. Hello dear friend Maya, fabulous school, dance and piano, family and new friends.

Charlie: Goodbye to Logan and London and Hank. Hello to Laney and all the trouble I'm sure the two of you will get into together. Goodbye to the only place you knew as home. Hello to a place that will become your home.

Jack: Hello world. Jack will be one tomorrow. I will not have a baby. A toddler. A toddler with personality. One starting to stand. With FOUR teeth-a record for my babies. An eater. A laugher. A Houdini. I am trying hard to look forward to the new toddler-dome, trying not to be sad that my babies are not going to be my babies for much longer. But that doesn't mean I didn't hold him extra tight and give him a few extra kisses as I put him in bed tonight, on the eve of the New Year and the eve of his birth. My baby...

This year my word(s) are more and less. I will be saying to myself all year, Do we need more of this or less. More reading, less stuff. More activities? Less time committements? We may have to make some tough decisions, but I think more or less will help us in our crazy three children busy lives. More...or less.

'Twas the night before Christmas

Tonight was pretty wonderful. Pizza Hut for the 32nd? 33rd? time, church where there was a very funny impromptu Christmas pageant complete with Lillian the donkey and Charlie the sheep (BAAAH!) and Lillian singing a wonderful solo of Silent Night (video to come) followed by a speedy return home and quick jammy change for the reading of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. This remains my favorite thing about Christmas. I love this story. I love that Lillian gets a new version each year so she will have a special collection from her Mama. I love that I get to quietly take pictures, and I even love that Jackson decided he had enough and I sat down, holding him, and got to listen to the rest of the story. I love the anticipation. I love the looks in my children's eyes as they listen. I love that there are three children in this house. (I love that I am not pregnant this year) and I love my family. So very much.
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.

On the 6th day {Before} Christmas

Tonight was movie night. We had planned on watching Muppet Christmas Carol as we have yet to see the Muppet Movie in the theatre, this was the next best thing. Foiled again. Apple TV just wasn't letting us, so we decided on the next, next best thing. Christmas Eve on Sesame Street. Lillian was once again thrilled to see everyone so young, Charlie was only half interested, and Bean danced to the songs but mostly just threw his ball around. Still, it was a fun cozy night.
(Lillian likes to set up two chairs to make it seem like a movie theatre :)

On the 7th day {Before} Christmas

Tonight was ornament night. A very eventful ornament night. Just seconds after Lillian opened her surprisingly hard to find Emperor Penguin in honor of her penguin roll in the play, it dropped and broke. Nose gone (badly super glued now) and wing, sadly shattered and unrepairable. Oh well. Charlie has another Don Drumm robot special, which really is special because it was what got me really excited for boys :)  and Jack, well, when I put a call out to anyone who may have seen a Bean ornament, Jess immediately found this one. Could not be more perfect. It was her gift to him. She is my gift :)

Because Facebook is not my blog

I must remember to leave important milestones and information here too.

1. Lily can now tie her own shoes. Amazing as I only really sat down to teach her once. She is a very determined girl when she actually tries.
2. Charlie only had one accident yesterday-on his way to the potty just a little bit too late. This once again confirms my belief that every child is different. The wait until he is ready thing just was not working. This horrible but now super rewarding three days did. Go little dude, go. School, here we come.
3. We are quickly learning how hard it is to have hardwood floors. Specifically Bean's head is learning. My poor baby.

And that is all for now...

Ten on Tuesday

1. Jack is one month old today. I can hardly believe it. I happened to look at the clock when it said 11:11, on 2.1.11-the coolness of his birthday will never get old.
2. We made it out to the doctor despite the fact that Lily had yet another snow day. I am so glad I didn't cancel as the roads were totally fine. He is a peanut despite the fact that he has gained a full two pounds since his two week check. He is now 8lbs, 14oz (23%) 21 inches (28%) long. Peanut. Yet, he looks like a chubba chubba peanut.
3. He is mostly a good napper but we are still working on sleeping at night. Four hours is the record, but normally he is up, eats for almost an hour, then takes a 1/2 hour to go back to sleep, then wakes up 45 minutes later. Why yes, I am tired.
4. He is a spitter. Boo. Although again, gaining weight and I have yet to hear the "splat" sound on the floor so we are ok with it. Poor Grandpa, his biggest rule was "don't spit on the floor" and none of my children ever followed it. Hee hee.
5. Despite the fact that Lily and Charlie did not have a binky or a bottle until they were six weeks old, Jack has been a binky kid from the beginning (I don't know WHAT we would have done without it) and had his very first bottle tonight. And did great. Yea Mama may be able to see a movie in 2011.
6. Jack's nicknames are Bean and Baby Jack Jack. I also call him Jackson quite a bit, and bud.
7. Charlie quite frequently imitates Jack's cry-it sounds a bit like a duck. He also has a sad little lamb cry when he is really losing it. None of my children have ever had a "cute" infant cry. They are all LOUD. Jack more than the others. He can go from sleeping to screaming in .1 second. It scares the living daylights out of Bj.
8. On the 24 Jack turned over about ten times during tummy time. Oooooo boy me thinks I am in trouble.
9. Today the gallery at Write.Click.Scrapbook. is up. This month (as you saw in a preview of 365) I made a "guestbook" of all of the emails, texts, and Facebook posts after Jack was born. You can check it out here. Be sure to stick around and look at all of the other wonderful mini albums too!
10. This afternoon I did a little photo shoot with ALL THREE. How is it I can get lots of photos of other children, but THIS is what I get when I try.
Well I will now be starting an album of Hall of Fame outtakes. I did get one slightly passable, but nothing canvas ready, which is what I was going for. So I sent the big kids out of the room, and aaaaaahhhhhh-peace, quiet, and one much more obedient model.
What a difference a month makes. And no, I literally can't stop looking at his cuteness :)

Jackson Henry Taylor

Thought Jackson needed his own formal introduction on the blog.
Jackson Henry Taylor
born January 1, 2011 @ 7:51am
6lbs 15oz, 19 3/4 inches

Also thought I'd let you know I am once again doing a 365 for 2011 (Jack knew this and arrived right on time to be a extra special first picture!) Here's to a spectacular 2011 :)

On the 8th day {before} Christmas

This morning started off at 4am with about two hours of strong contractions...that then almost completely ended, but has made Mama and Daddy a bit tired today. So plans of a playdate had to be changed, and your Mama's need for family time suddenly got even more urgent. Thus it was an entire family event to build the gingerbread train this year, not just Mama and Lily. I'm so glad because although it is one of the saddest, falling sideways gingerbread trains you ever saw, everyone was very creative in their decorating and everyone had fun. For instance, "cow catcher" mustaches for Charlie
and for LIly
and one horribly iced (by me with really faulty icing...yes, it was the icing's fault) but creatively decorated Gingerbread Train.
I would love to see the people who make these market these like this-not with some professional cake decorator with expensive tools. Or maybe I really am THAT BAD at this. At least it is another great memory for the scrapbook :)

Friday Five, errr, Six

1. Charlie made me laugh and roll my eyes today. First, the laugh. We walked into the doctor (more on that later) and said "Mama? Do you want to see my dance moves?" The reason being, I have carried on the very odd but long standing tradition of dancing in elevators. Only when no one else is riding. And when the elevator slows or beeps, we stop and pretend nothing ever happened. He knows the deal. Second, he said to me this morning, "Mama! I see poop!" Oh. No. But then he said, "Mama it is Whinnie the Poop!" No Charlie it is Whinnie the Pooh. P-o-o-h. "Yes Mama, P-o-o-h, POOP!" Fabulous. Really, fabulous.

2. So the doctor. I am officially 2cm dilated and having more labor like contractions. My doctor said she doesn't see me going much farther than 37 weeks. I am 37 weeks on Christmas Eve. I think it is time for me to start getting ok with possibly missing Christmas this year...and coming up with creative ways for Bean to still have his own special day on his birthday. And weather? Please cooperate.

3. We finally have our own Elf on the Shelf. He decided to come to us on Monday (don't know why he didn't start on December 1 as he was in the house...) and is a BIG hit with Lillian. The first thing she says to me each morning is "Can I find George?" Her first three wishes are as follows. 1. I wish I wish with all my heart that I could see Maya. 2. I wish I wish with all my heart that I could see Ella and Abby. 3. I wish I wish with all my heart that I could go to Nonnie and Bapa's house. And yes, she says it exactly that way. It melts my heart. Oh and for the record, George's full name is George Elfie Thomas Peepers. Who do you think picked each name?

4. So Write. Click. Scrapbook. is having a pretty amazing month of fabulous holiday ideas and giveaways. I definitely think you should check it out.

5. I am once again going to be delving into the world of 365 (which may start early if Bean arrives before the New Year.) I really hope you join me. It doesn't matter what kind of camera you have. It doesn't matter what kind of photographer you are. You will be happy with all of those recorded priceless memories. I promise. 

6. I have also picked my word for 2011. Thankful. I think it is a good time to be thankful for what we have, the big things and the little things. I am going to try very hard to focus on this word while photographing the things that are important to us-whether it be a favorite toy or the birth of Bean. I want this to be an extra meaningful album that I will end up with where in addition to stretching my photography, I just want to remind myself to be thankful. So what is your word?