Valerie's birth

Well, I had the pleasure (ha ha) of being induced with my darling Valerie. I wanted to have a third VBAC, after successfully delivering McKay & Courtney in this manner. So, after being postponed a day due to maternity overcrowding, Mike & I headed to the hospital early in the morning on 9/30/04 to begin the induction...

I felt "ready" as my body had already started the process on its' own... shouldn't be long.... right?

My progress was very slow after beginning the Pitocin, so around noon (and at only 3 cm) I told Mike & my dad (in town from Michigan for the delivery) to go get some lunch so at least THEY wouldn't be hungry. Venetia (my pal) stayed behind to keep me company. It was a good thing. Thanks V.

Almost immediately after Mike & dad left things began to get CRAZY. Within 15 minutes I was feeling the urge to push... WHAT?

A quick phone call to Mike & dad in the Taco Bell drive thru around the corner from the hospital... HURRY, please hurry.

Everybody was scurrying, the doc was quickly called & after {checking things out} said, "okay, this baby is coming, it's time to push".

are you kidding me?

"Not Without My Husband!!!!!"

He said Mike better hustle because we might not have a choice, husband or no husband.

Dad dropped Mike off at the maternity entrance, he sprinted to our room and BADA BOOM * BADA BING... happy birthday Valerie!

Valerie Morgan Taylor
7 lbs 8 oz
20 inches

Dad parked & ran up in time to catch Valerie's first cry on the cell phone for mom back in Michigan (love you mom!!!)

The icing on top?

Within minutes of Valerie's birth, I got to eat a HOT taco. Seriously awesome.

extremely unflattering photo, but had to capture the moment
(do I seriously have man-hands?)

I feel so fortunate to have had Dad there to greet his 6th granddaughter and Venetia to encourage, cheer, videotape & especially ooh & aah.

Valerie, your birth was such a joy and that was surely indicative of what you bring to our lives on a daily basis.

We love you Val.

Four is oh so Fabulous !

Today is Valerie's birthday.

You came into this world in style...

And Honey...

You Still

Got It

GOIN' ON !!!

Happy 4th Birthday, Goldilocks !

It's Friday, I'm in * LOVE *

Scrumptious.

better dust off my resume...

(below is an actual conversation taken from the Taylor home... enjoy)

"Please mom.... please, please, please, PLEASE!!!
please
say yes or you're FIRED."

do I get a severance?

Tutus & Tiaras

Once there was a shy little ballerina...

who was delighted when she found out she got to dance with her sister...
(note little bro *TONY* being escorted out by his father after causing a major ruckus)

Big sis was happy too.

*** Ta Da ***

Isn't life grand?

A Proper Farewell

helloooo ladies.

(Emily, Toree, Cortney & Macey)

One of McKay's friends Emily moved to Massachusetts. McKay, Conner & Chase decided to have a going away bash... and even made Emily a goodbye "graham cracker, swiss cake roll, frosting, tootsie roll, cake". Its' construction even involved a blow dryer (serious stuff). The funny thing was, instead of taping the tinfoil around a piece of cardboard to build the "cake" on, they taped it directly to my counter top.

(Conner, McKay, Chase)

cute boys.

Goldfish & Sand

So YUMMY, I could eat him...

sand and all...

okay, maybe just a *nibble*

Portraits of Jon

Hey Jon... why so scared ?

(look up)

oh.

Taylor Tribute To 7-11

Did I mention that 7-11 gives away Free Slurpees every year on, well... 7-11 ?
Thank you Courtney for being born on 7-11. Now we can celebrate TWO awesome things on this day.
#1 - You
#2 - free Slurpees

7-11

2003

7-11
(actual 7-11 picture MIA, but birthday photo nonetheless)
2004

7-11
2005

7-11
2006

7-11
2007

7-11
2008
(with aunt Lisa, also born on 7-11, and kids Moses, Wyatt & Matthew)

PS - very cool side note... notice Mr. 7-11 as shown in picture below with Courtney. This is the Very Same Mr. 7-11 who was working the day Courtney was born, and has been there ever since. Can I qualify this as a "relationship"?
Thanks Mr. 7-11 for being you...

Courtney's birth

It all started at 6:00 am on 7/11/02. Mike & I woke up to watch the morning news as we lay in bed on another hot summer day in Arizona. We happen to catch a news story about the "birthday" of the 7-11 convenience store... and as it were, they were giving away FREE SLURPEES. Say no more... we were up, dressed and in line to get our free (albeit bite size) slurpees within the hour. What a way to start the day...

The festive mood continued as Mike went off to work & Jon, McKay and I spent the morning playing. We decided to keep the party going and went to McDonalds for lunch, and I distinctly remember feeling my first "real" contractions.

I decided we better head home because I WAS NOT READY TO HAVE THIS BABY !

oh no.

* wash all pink laundry in Dreft
* organize all pink laundry into closets & drawers
*pack hospital bag
* hurry & type the rest of my charts from my medical transcription job (how can I concentrate?)
* clean house
* do not panic

I remember when my sister-in-law April came over to pick up the boys & I was furiously vacuuming the house.
Our conversation,
April: "Don't you think you ought to call Mike?"
Me: "Oooeee (contraction sound)... okay, as soon as I finish"
April: No, seriously Beck, I think you should call"
Me:"ooEeee... almost done..."
April: "Beck..."
Me: "Can't.go.to.hospital.with.dirty.house. OOEEooee"
April: "Are you forgetting that Mike is in Phoenix & will be right in the middle of rush hour traffic?"
Me: "OOOEEEE.oooeee.OOOEEE.oooeee... (dialing mildly panicked)... Mike, you need to get home N-O-W!!!"

When we got to the hospital I was 6 cm dilated, and our darling Courtney was born a couple short hours & several pushes later (2 weeks early).

Courtney Marie Taylor
6 lbs 15 oz
20 inches

We waited 7 1/2 long years for you to join our family, and we couldn't be happier.

We love you Courtney.

Six is Spectacular

Today is Courtney's birthday.

from your tiny beginnings...

To your larger than life today...

GIRL, you are FAB-U-LOUS !

Happy 6th Birthday Freckles

Call me CrAzY !

Desperate Times Call For
Desperate Measures, baby.

was it worth the cleanup ?
i dunno.

pssssst

Hey, Eliza...know what?

I think we should be rock stars...

oh yeah.....

Splish Splash

we were takin' a bath...

until some crazed maniac decided to jump in the tub fully clothed (well, fully pj'd) and wreak havoc.

HELP!

Playing Catch Up...

It's the story of my life...
always one step behind, trying to catch up.
Since I took a summer blogging hiatus, I am now "catching up" on all of the summer goodness.
The new posts will be backdated so they all appear in order, under the appropriate month on my sidebar.
Here are my new summer posts to date:
July 11, 2008
July 11, 2008
July 11, 2008
** must have been an exciting day...

Thunder Thighs

My friend Venetia (who sadly moved to Massachusetts) bought a Bumbo after visiting me. Her daughter Meredith LOVED my Bumbo. She was so excited for Meredie's younger bro to be able to enjoy it...

that is until she tried to put her 4 mo old in that Bumbo...

SQUEEEEEEEZE

well, at least he's happy

hello Cameron. wish I was there so I could take a bite out of you!

Goodbye Limo

Bet you didn't know we had a limo...

Yes, around here we live the good life... one of the luxuries our children enjoy is daily rides in dads "limo". The girls have dubbed Mike's Accord the family limo, you know for obvious reasons... tinted windows, moon roof, dad playing chauffeur. Well, today we said goodbye to the limo, with one final ride.

As he no longer commutes to Phoenix, Mike sold his Accord & got his bad self a truck. Yee-haw.

This car holds some good memories.

and is very dirty

Goodbye Limo

but i LIKE argyle...

Why, you ask ?

I am not certain, but I think it may be because he was wearing his Carlton Banks sweater...

My Twin

Okay, as I was finishing my last post, I decided that I needed a followup post...

funny story below
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One afternoon Valerie was looking through my photo albums. Imagine her amazement when she found a picture of HERSELF in MY book!!!
(and don't even try to convince her otherwise)

Judge for yourself

I kinda like having a twin.

Me (age 4) in Valerie's favorite tutu.