October in a Pumpkin Shell

Where to begin? It seems as though we have become a little lazy in the blogging area, but to think of us in the Taylor clan as lazy would be a little false. You see in the last few months we have become more busy than ever, yet we have quickly learned to be more relaxed in many ways.

Jane is getting bigger and bigger. She is ever patient with the many hands that hug and hold her, not to mention the infinite amount of kisses Benjamin and Philip bestow upon her.

The library continues to be a welcomed addition to our regular week of activities. The signs posted claim they limit families to 20 books at a time, but the nice librarians always allow Jacob and Emma about 20 a piece. They are also nice enough to let me have a few of my own. We can always count on Emma and Jacob being very well occupied for a least and hour after a trip to the library.

Emma has actually been learning to read and so her world of reading is drastically changing. Her imaginative reading is still very active, but she loves to find sentences she "knows." I just love this stage of the learning process because every word is so new and wonderful.

The funniest part is when they know what a word is and they say a similar word in meaning instead. For example, Emma will sound out the word "little" then she will state that the word is, "small." I try really hard not to smile and laugh when she does this, I don't want her to think I am making fun of her. It's just so cute though I love it.

Benjamin is ever busy. He lives in a world of toys, toys, toys. He recently asked me to buy him some underwear so that he can go to the bathroom on the potty. This is music to my ears! The underwear has been purchased and now I am just waiting for him. I told him that he has to go potty in the potty once before I will put them on him. He seems to have no real interest in this. For now he is just happy knowing that there are, in our house, underwear for him when he is ready to go in the potty.

At this rate Jane will be potty trained before Benjamin, but I am not worried. No one asks for this kind of info on college applications or resumes. He will get there someday.

Benjamin also had a birthday this month the big number 3. Emma and Jacob woke up early to make him some presents of there own.

He also received his own super cape.

"Super Benjamin to the rescue!"

He loved all of his presents, but most of all . . .

He loved the cake! Daddy has chosen the last couple years to have Chocolate Eclair cake. The kids have all fallen in love with this kind of cake and I dare say they have good taste. Benjamin insisted on this cake, but seriously, pudding, graham crackers and icing aside, his favorite part of the whole day. . .

Was the Nemo and Dori cake toppers he got to have afterword. I think he slept with them for the next three weeks.

But because Benjamin is Benjamin, he let Emma play with Dori every day during the waking hours.

This month when we headed up to Dallas for our Temple trip, Jane, Philip and Robin had some extra bonding time at the hotel. . .

while Nato, Jacob, Emma, and Benjamin headed to the Dallas Cowboys Stadium to watch "Star Wars in Concert!"

Benjamin felt especially grow up being big enough to attend the event with all the big kids.

It was hosted by C3PO in his less shiny attire,

Basically the month was full of a lot of busy.

We calculated the we spend 4 hours nursing Jane plus an additional 3 hours feeding Philip. He just doesn't eat on his own very well yet. When you also take into account the preparing and cleaning up of all things consumed it is no wonder I often turn around to find things like this.

We ended our month on a great note though. Halloween was a hit. Grandma and Papa Taylor came to help us celebrate and it was a hoot!

We had pancakes for dinner to entice the kids to eat quickly but we still didn't get done before our door bell was ringing constantly with neighboring trick or treaters.

We were able to finally get everyone dressed and ready for the big night! It was a great night and a happy Halloween! We hope yours was just as fun!

Musical Beds

With a new kid in town we have found ourselves shuffling things to make room for everyone.  We had planned on Jane sleeping in the bassinet for a few months, but Benjamin has learned the art of climbing out of his crib.  This is probably not the safest pasttime so we have opted to assemble the old toddler bed from Jacob's younger years and Benjamin is excited for his newest place of residence.

Jane is finding the large crib a very nice place to sleep and Emma LOVES that her room is finally the GIRLS room.

Benjamin is doing well staying in bed at night, but we need to probably move it to a different corner so he stops playing in the window during his nap.  By the time we finally get it figured out we will probably have another someone or something we have to juggle with the beds, but for now we are all sleeping comfortably.

My Girls

Before we new we were expecting Jane, Emma started talking about all the things that would happen "After my baby sister comes out of Mommy's tummy."  She had never shown much interest in whether Benjamin or Philip were boys or girls, she just liked babies.  So her talk of a little baby sister in mommy's tummy was intriguing to us.  It was only a few days later that we learned Jane was on the way.  Of course we do not find out the gender of our babies until they are born so we were not sure if Emma was going to have the sister she talked of.  Emma never doubted for anything.  She KNEW it was a girl and this faith in her knowledge caused many heated discussions between her and Jacob in the past nine months.  

Happily Emma was correct.  She had known all along and she is so glad to have a sister to share dresses and dolls and anything pink with. Her favorite past time is now holding Jane.  She will hold her all day if I let her.   She is the best little mommy ever.

Note:  She is already requesting the next one to be a girl too!  We will just have to see.

Grandma

Mom came to help us when Jane was born.

She did EVERYTHING! She cooked and cleaned and even did school with Jacob and Emma.

She held babies, including Philip, Benjamin, Emma and even Jacob!

Whenever Mom comes she insists on not letting me pick up anything heavy and with her own health issues I often wonder if I should be allowing her to pick up anything heavy. She would never hear of it though. She makes sure everyone is okay and ready to go before she leaves.

Mom always taught me the best remedy for the trials we have is to serve others. I learned this lesson well through her words and her example. She is such a role model to all of us. No wonder EVERYONE was crying on the way home after dropping her off at the airport. Well, maybe Jane was asleep, but I assure you there were many wet seats by the time we arrived back home.

Super Helpers

How is life in a house with five children?  Pretty great when you have these children in your house.  These are my Super Heros.  Each of them have helped so much since the arrival of Jane.  They do all kinds of things for us.  They clean up their toys, help with buckling car seats, hold hands of littler ones and they even help out by being willing to have their hands held by someone bigger sometimes.  I don't think any of us could function without the help of someone and these little heros remind me of that every day.  Especially on days when they ALL CHOOSE to dress this way and play so nicely TOGETHER, for a few minutes at least. 

A Week in the Life of Jane

Jane came into our lives on a wonderful Monday Morning.  She was so pink and beautiful that we couldn't help but love her at first sight.  She  even smelled pink!  She was definitely our little girl.  She took to us right away and her "stork bite" on her forehead says that she is Daddy's girl.  This is a trait that comes from him.

We spent one night in the hospital with Jane and on Tuesday the doctors sent us all home.

At home her week started with a bang!  Everyone wanted to hold her and we almost had to get out an egg timer to keep the turns "fair."

Jane spent the next few days being held,

kissed,

snuggled, 

bathed,

and sleeping.

By Sunday no one was tired of holding her.

We are glad she came to our home.

She is most certainly a part of our family.

Girl!

It's a GIRL!

Introducing Jane Abigail Taylor

Born on August 31, 2009

at 11:04 AM

8 lbs. 4 oz.

19 1/2 inches long

Mom, Baby and everyone doing well.

Everyone loves her!