Welcome Our Sweet Man!

Well, finally I am able to take a few minutes (or hours) to write another blog entry! A lot has happened since the last time I wrote. We found out we were pregnant in June! Things went really smoothly for quite a while, hardly sick at all, just tired. We even took a trip to Colorado Springs in September and did some sight-seeing and hiking. However, in October I was told to limit my activity due to an "irritable" uterus - I had 15-30 painless but really annoying contractions an hour! This continued for the entirety of the pregnancy. I was placed on bedrest for 12 weeks beginning in Nov. At 36 weeks I was able to resume more activity thinking the little guy would come super fast but not so. He was so comfy cozy that he had to be induced at 39 weeks and I labored for 18 hours, almost two of which were me trying to push the little booger out!

Just born!

So David Elliot Taylor arrived at 6:39am, Wednesday, February 8, 2012. He weighed 6 lbs. 11 oz and was 19 1/4 inches long. Now he is about 10 lbs and 23 inches and he coos and smiles. He has the happiest little smile and the sweetest, quietest coos. He has the sweetest cry, though he rarely cries except when he's hungry (but not frantically unless you wait too long) or if he's really tired. When he starts getting hungry or tired he just gives out a few quiet, sounds like happy coos that eventually progress to an all out cry if you don't respond to him after a while. And usually when you pick him up he gets quiet and waits patiently. However, again, if you wait too long he just gets mad at that point. Enough is enough!

Grandma got to come for a long visit! Hurray!

Wesley came for a visit too!

Look at those grasshopper legs! :)

It was quite a rough road the first month! We came home from the hospital on a Friday. Eric turned right around and took Wesley to the doctor that day because he had been running a high fever for a few days. He had the flu! On Saturday we had to take David to Children's Mercy Urgent Care because he was a bit too yellow for my liking. They quickly wanted him in the hospital because of his bilirubin level in combination with a rapid loss of weight. Yikes! So he laid under the lights and received fluid through an IV for about 20 hours. At the hospital it was confirmed that he had a tied tongue that needed to be clipped because he was not breastfeeding well at all. On Sunday we brought him home. On Monday, we had to take David back to the doctor for a recheck and I started feeling terrible and had a fever. Then Eric had to take my mom to the doctor because she was sick. Though she wasn't tested for it, we suspect she also had the flu. My breast pump, which was vital to increasing my milk supply because David was such a poor feeder, also broke that day as well. That was a bad day! On Tuesday, I went to the doctor and tested positive for the flu! So Eric was taking care of all of us and was thoroughly exhausted. I was in a complete flu and postpartum fog for the rest of the week. I had to take David back to the doctor again on Thursday for a recheck. Wesley and I had a terrible cough that took weeks to go away!

Under the lights

He got a little crazy with his feet!

Eric called this his batman mask.

Thankfully they had a bed for the adults and meals for MOM. :)

The next Monday was my first day without help. David had his tongue clipped that day. On Tuesday, he had another recheck. On Wednesday, Wesley had his two year doctor's appt! The next Monday I had to take David again for a recheck of his tongue. That weekend, David developed a cough that sounded similar to Wesley and I. So on Monday I took him to the doctor AGAIN. The doctor said he sounded fine and had no fever. Well, that night he was roasting hot. He had a fever of 103 and not even 4 weeks old! We called the doctor and they said go to the emergency room! They took us back very quickly and started an IV and tested him for everything in the book. Poor guy has been poked and prodded quite a few times in his young little life. He tested positive for RSV and had to stay in the hospital for two nights. The little man had 3 leads that posed quite a challenge to this mommy who already had trouble trying to breastfeed him. Needless to say, after staying up all night with the little guy, I was completely exhausted and emotionally strung out! However, the RSV never really got worse. He started eating better the next day and was allowed to go home earlier than anyone expected. Hurray!

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Look at those long legs!

In the ER waiting for a room.

Finally in a room, the same room as before, just a different bed. Poor guy. It was so sad to see him hooked up to so much.

It didn't seem to bother him too much though

Since then things have been easier. It has certainly been a huge adjustment to having another little one around. Wesley was and is still not too keen on having this little thing vying for his attention. Occasionally, he finds it necessary to vent his feelings on David by conking him on the head with wooden trains, scratching his head and poking at his eyeballs. He's also conked me on the head and screeched very loudly in my ear when trying to feed David a bottle (I had to give up the breastfeeding). I've been informed though that this is perfectly normal. I've also just been trying to figure out how to get anything done. Now that David sleeps through the night, most nights, I feel so much better! I can think so much clearer and get so much more done. I am actually enjoying this new phase of life.

David seems really laid back and just goes with the flow. I was very on-schedule with Wes, feeding him every three hours on the dot, give or take 5 minutes. But if I went much past that I started to get frantic. Well, try as I may, the schedule for David is much more lax. For one thing, he just doesn't demand to be fed. I often still have to wake him to feed him and he's fairly happy for a while without being fed. Even in the hospital he was like this. So he isn't really on a three hour schedule and whereas we fed Wes at the same times each day, it changes from day to day with David. However, he is generally in the bed at night around 9 or so.

One of the unique things about David is his gift of burping! He has some really loud, deep burps that sound like an adult male's burp. However, there are a few times that he has let out these scary burpy things that could be heard across the street! The last time he did it, it was so loud that I started to tear up because it scared me so much! He did too! Then I just started laughing. How could something so, so tiny make this enormous sound that I've never even heard an adult make! So with Wesley it was projectile spit-up. With David it is scary belches!

Hi mamma!

Well, that's all for now. I will be writing more soon about Wesley and maybe adding some recipes and a snipit about my time on bedrest. Thanks for your patience!

Princesses

I've had friends who have little girls tell me of the struggle with the princess phenomenon. I would love to have a little girl someday but I don't look forward to contending with this princess movement. It's been nice knowing that Wes is content with dirt and trucks.

Below is an article that was linked to one of my KC friend's blog. I think it really sums up the problems with promoting this princess mentality and gives an alternative attitude for our girls and for ourselves as adult women following Christ. The article quotes largely from another writer. That writer had read a book that I read with my small group several years ago. There were some things I questioned about it then and since then, more and more questions have come up. It is good to know that others felt the same way about the book. I'd love your comments!

http://www.scriptoriumdaily.com/2011/06/02/why-disney-princesses-are-bad/

Taylor's Table - Chicken Stock

I've been watching the movie Julie & Julia this evening while giving my first go at hand quilting. As for the quilting, I need a lot more practice. Since what I am working on is a real quilt I plan to use on my bed and not just for practice, I took out what I had tried. It just wasn't very pretty. Now, if only I could sew a straight line on my sewing machine! Even with lines drawn! All I have to do is connect the dots, so to speak, and still, I can't manage a straight line! It does look better than the hand quilting attempt though.

Anyway, while watching the movie and after this attempt at hand quilting I was inspired to finally write an entry on making homemade chicken stock. I've been meaning to do this ever since I started "Taylor's Table." Here are some things you might be wondering... Why make homemade chicken stock? Isn't it a lot of work? Is it really worth all the trouble? I once wondered these very same things. After learning the benefits of this scrumptious staple and having worked out an easy way to make it, I rarely, if ever, buy chicken stock from a store. I'm a homemade chicken stock snob. :)

Why make chicken stock at home? Have you ever read the ingredients on store bought broth or bouillon cubes? Here are the first few ingredients in beef cubes - salt, hydrolized vegetable protein, corn syrup, sugar, beef fat, monosodium glutamate. Need I write more? On the other hand, homemade stock is VERY good for you. It has natural ingredients which feed, repair, and calm the small intestines, it heals the nerves, improves digestion, reduces allergies, relaxes and gives strength. For more information on this read Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon. Furthermore, making stock at home saves money and is the backbone for many recipes. Not to mention, if you cook the whole chicken in the broth, you have all that cooked chicken you can use in other dishes like chicken pot pie, chicken casseroles, chicken tacos or burritos, pizza, etc. (Stock is made only with the bones of a chicken which makes the broth more clear, whereas, broth is made with the meat as well and is not as refined and more cloudy. Stock is what professionals use to make sauces and other things that Julia Child would make that I haven't venture to try yet. Sometimes I make stock; usually I make broth.)

Isn't it a lot of work? Surprisingly, as you will see below, chicken stock/broth can be very easy to make and store!

Is it really worth all the trouble? Besides all the benefits that I wrote in the response to the first question, homemade broth tastes really good!!! Also, because it makes so much, you almost always have some available. By the time you run out, you need more cooked chicken meat anyway.

So how do you make it?

1. Purchase a good chicken. I either buy a rotisserie chicken, an organic chicken if the budget allows, a grass fed organic chicken if I really have a big budget (these are much better for you! but I've only bought one) or just an ordinary chicken from the local mega-chain store for .98 a pound. Honestly, there is not really difference in outcome where taste is concerned.

2. Clean the chicken. If you want to make a stock, roast the chicken first (I'll post a recipe for this later) and eat it, or take the cooked meat off the bones and use it in a variety of ways.

3. Put the whole chicken, or the bones of the chicken in a stock pot. Fill the pot with cold water. Then, chop up a few carrots and celery, add an onion cut in big chunks and add a bay leaf or two. To save time with this, when you use the vegetables for other dishes on other days, take what is left over after chopping (the onion skins, the ends and peelings of the carrots, etc.), toss them in a ziplock bag and store them in the freezer until you make stock. Then, pull it out and simply dump it into the water with the chicken.

4. Bring the water to a boil. When it starts to boil, use a large spoon to scoop out the foam. Then, reduce heat and simmer for at least 2 hours. Keep in mind that the longer you cook it, the more flavorful and nutritious it becomes. I have cooked it as long as perhaps 12 hours and as little as an hour.

5. Strain out the chicken, vegetables and bay leaves. If needed, you can use the broth right away; however, it might be kind of greasy.

6. To take out the greasiness, put the whole pot in the refrigerator for a day or two (I've left it in the fridge for as long as two weeks and it somehow still smelled and tasted wonderful!). The fat will coagulate on top. Simply skim it off the top.

You will probably have way more broth than you will be prepared to use right away. I have made as much as 20 cups of broth at one time. So, after a few failed attempts and broken jars, I've found an easy way to store the broth for later retrieval. Here's what you do... Pour your broth into ice cube trays. Pop them in the freezer until the broth is frozen, then store the cubes in a ziplock bag especially for freezers. 8 cubes make a cup, give or take a bit. This way, if you need two cups or eight, you can easily get what you need without having to thaw out way more than you need.

And that's it! Enjoy!

Addendum to a Previous Entry

Earlier I wrote a blog entry entitled "I'm Just Wondering" kind of as a vent of my frustration over the lack of availability of quality, simple toys. I just want to write to say that I have found some great toy stores that do sell quality toys.

Some of them are local to this area, just little shops in the villages tucked in and around the big trees and big houses of this great city. Another great store is called The Learning Tree that I also found tucked here and there around our area. I think it is more of a nationwide chain but it is still not one of those mega toy stores. It was quite a pleasure to look around in there. So, I don't feel quite so frustrated with the toy selection out there. Check out the Learning Tree and/or look up local toy shops in your area for a better selection than you will find at Target, Walmart and Babies R Us/Toy R Us.

Taylor's Table - Awesome Granola

I have tried different granola recipes that have been okay but not really keepers. However, I have now found a keeper! It is super easy, too. It is from Family Feast for $75 a Week that I checked out from the library in an effort to keep grocery prices down. The book has lots of great tips and many good recipes.

We like to eat this granola with yogurt, on our cereal (Cheerios and Shredded Wheat), or in our oatmeal.

Easy Granola (This is the book's recipe, halfed).

6 cups oatmeal

1/4 cup flour

1/2 TBS cinnamon - 2 tsp.

1/4 tsp nutmeg

2 cups of goodies (in the last batch I had a mix of 1 cup of sliced almonds, chopped pecans and sunflower seeds & a mix of 1 cup of dried currants, cranberries and chopped apricots).

1/2 cup of honey

1/2 cup of oil (I used light tasting olive oil)

1. P reheat oven to 325F. Grease 2-3 large baking sheets with cooking spray.

2. Combine oats, flour cinnamon, nutmeg & goodies

3. Combine oil and honey in 2 cup glass measuring cup. Microwave on high 2 minutes or until hot. Pour over dry ingredients & mix well.

4. Spread mixture over baking sheets; bake until light to medium brown, 15-20 minutes each - bake each pan individually for best results.

5. Let granola cool completely. Break up. Store in air tight container for up to 4 weeks.

ENJOY!

Streams in the Desert

Recently, to our great joy and delight and surprise, we were able to finally bring Wesley's adoption to a close. Naturally, whenever an adoption is finalized, the adopting parents and all other relatives are ecstatic but in this case words cannot express our relief and greatest joy because it was a contested adoption. The finalization brought to a close a six month journey of frustration, confusion, and fear about what would really happen in the end. It seemed like we were walking through a very dry desert. We could not bear to think of having to give Wesley up but at the same time we also had to think about it. Needless to say, God taught us a lot through the process. Here are some things in brief that put in our hearts as we sought His heart in the matter. These were streams in the desert for us.

1. Continually we felt the Lord asking, "Do you trust Me?" See, we had really felt that the Lord had led us to adopt after years of struggling through infertility and just because it was something that had been on our hearts for years, and for me, even while in high school and perhaps earlier. We prayed for God's timing to adopt, which agency to use, that God would guide the right birth parents to us, that the child given as a gift would be the one God chose for us. It seemed that through all the circumstances and decisions, we felt we had followed God. "Why then this unexpected struggle, Lord?" Repeatedly the Lord replied, "Do you trust Me? Or He would simply just say, "Trust Me."

2. We have learned through all of the roads of infertility and adoption and even with other situations and circumstances that we are not in control. Try as we might to have things work out the way we want, God has another plan, better than ours. It is good and we just have to let go and trust Him. (See #1) God does what He does beyond our comprehension, all for His greatest glory. We see now how much He was glorified in this in our lives and in the lives of others involved. We pray that continues.

3. Do what you feel the Lord is leading you to do even if it is the hard thing, isn't the normal course of action and doesn't make sense and the outcome isn't what you'd hoped and prayed for or even expected given that you thought that you were doing what the Lord wanted you to do and therefore the outcome must be in your favor. We did feel the Lord guiding us to do something very hard, that wasn't normal and didn't really make sense. In doing so we thought the outcome would have brought a positive answer for us given that the Lord had led us to do it. However, that was not the case, initially anyway. The adoption continued to be contested and we were crushed. We didn't understand why the Lord had led us to do this specific thing with all the anxiety it involved if it only brought about the same result. Again, the Lord said, "Trust Me." In the end, we clearly see how God very much used the route He lead us down to make a difference even if the result was quite delayed.

4. Related to that and all other points, God will display His power, love and glory by doing what only He can do. He certainly did this in this case.

5. Fight for what God has entrusted to you but hold it with an open hand. We came to realize how very much Wesley was/is a gift from the Lord. We knew this already but the reality of it became much more stark when we realized the gift could be taken away. And yet it was still a gift. We were given the responsibility to be good stewards of this precious gift and that too became much more real knowing that we might only have him in our arms a short time longer. We still had to be his loving parents for the time given to us to do so, to shower him with love and as stewards of what was entrusted to us, to fight for what we thought was good and right for Wes. And yet we had to realize that all things given to us are not ours really and are indeed never given with the promise of permanence except for salvation. As He has taught me about other things, even my own breath and life, we have to hold everything with an open hand, trusting that the Lord holds all things in His hands much more firmly than what we are allowed to hold and that He holds them forever. We can trust Him even when it doesn't make sense and it seems heart-wrenching to think we might have to let go.

6. As in other roads we've been down, He continues to teach us that God is enough. Nothing satisfies, nothing brings greater joy than the gift of His grace. He is enough for our sorrow and our hope, for our weeping and rejoicing. He gives us everything we need, and much more, and loves us perfectly although we in our imperfection, do not usually understand.

7. Also, we've seen how we have a faulty view of God and ourselves. I cannot really put this into words right now, it is something still formulating and digesting and will probably will be for all the days of our life as we continue to grow and learn more about God and ourselves in this fallen world.

8. Lastly, we've learned not to hesitate to bring those we love and who love us along on the journey as support and encouragement. The prayers and support of His people have lifted us up many times out of our sorrow and fear. We need each other desperately.

It is strange how, on the day we went to court in February, before we knew there would be a good outcome, that we both felt a peace. We were anxious, but there was a deep peace in knowing that God really was in control and that we really could trust Him. That only came by His grace and much, much, much wrestling and weeping and questioning.

If you're struggling through something, keep seeking. God will reveal Himself to you, perhaps in unexpected ways, but in fulfilling, satisfying ways that brings great unexplained peace beyond what you could imagine. He is faithful to Himself and to His people. You may not see the purpose of your weariness or even a good outcome but He will reveal Himself to you to be a good and loving Father, trustworthy and faithful, firmly holding you forever.

Two good books we've read are A Grief Observed by C.S. Lewis and Streams in the Desert. C.S Lewis makes no bones about how he feels about his suffering and it is soul-healing to read how a godly, devoted man seriously wrestled with God in his grief. Streams in the Desert is a daily devotional that walks the reader through dealing with suffering, full of writings and hymns and poems from thoughtful, godly people of long ago.

Also, our church just did an 8-week sermon series on suffering leading up to Easter. It was very good! You can listen to it here - Suffering Series

Einstein Quote

Here is a great quote I heard on a PBS special on very elderly people. One man quoted this as part of his success in staying alive so long (most of these people were in their 90's and older1!) - keeping the mind and imagination strong. This encourages me because I love to create and imagine. I hope I never stop and can still keep doing so when I'm 90!

“Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.”

Go do something imaginative! :)