Stella's Room

Today I wanted to share Lil' Stella's nursery. 

since Stella means star I thought that would be a cute theme to decorate her room in. 

 My friend got me a bunch of these glow in the dark stars. I decided instead of sticking them on the ceiling I would poke holes and string them together to make a mobile.

 We painted a little mural on the wall

 the rest of the room is filled with hand me down things from the other girls, like this rocking horse from Julia

 Belle's changing table

 a rocking chair from Grandma Jo (the grandma Stella is named after)

 I think she loves her room

DAUGHTERS

 Even when I was a little girl I knew someday I would be a mommy. Maybe it's the fact that my whole life I have been around babies and little kids. I am the oldest of 7 brothers and sisters and the oldest of around 45 grandkids! 

 I wanted to be that mom in the stands sreaming for her son to make the goal. playing on the floor with race cars, riding bikes and digging in the dirt.laughing about fart jokes and playing tricks on everyone.  I wanted all boys!

But instead this is what I got:

Someday I will have my little boy but for now I will cherish all the Pink and girlie-ness that comes with having daughters.

Belle's Jealousy issue

Everyone has been wondering how Miss Belle has been adjusting ever since we brought Stella home.

Well I expected her to be a little clingy maybe even jealous of having to share me, but I was WAY wrong! She doesn't mind  but nobody gets in the way of her and her Daddy!

If he is holding Stella, watch out!

He told her, she was a big girl now and she say's "NO! I am your big baby!"

She could care less if I am giving Stella attention but no way is her Daddy aloud to talk to Stella with out hugging, kissing, spinning in circles and getting her some 'hotket milk' first! (chocolate milk)

And again I have come to terms with the fact that she will always be a daddy's girl. she loves me I know it. But there is something about him that makes her scream with excitement the second he walks in the door from work. He drops everything when he hears her little voice telling him to "helps me!" (that means pick me up in Belle language) I think I am so OK with their strong bond  because without ME they wouldn't have each other :) (this is an old picture)

pen pals

I know it's  been a while since I wrote about Uganda, Even though I think about them EVERY single day! 

While I was there I couldn't help but notice a beautiful little girl that was attending the St. Jerome Cove center boarding school. She was quite and seemed to always be by herself. always in the back of the class room. I don't think I saw many other kids talk to her but they did giggle and point at her from time to time. 

This broke my heart and I realized the reason it bothered me so much was because she was ME in elementary school! I was the awkward loner that was extremely shy and quite. I had a few friends but when we were assigned a project to work on with a partner I was always the one that had to tell the teacher I didn't have was left without a partner. Elementary school was really hard on me and I think that's where a lot of my insecurities come from. But this is not about poor Kassondra. I grew up, had a great childhood, went to high school and met tons of friends! the bullies never teased me because it was a much bigger school and their were a lot more weirdos than this wall flower :)  I loved High School!

But I felt like I could relate to this little girl in Uganda. (shes the girl in the back row of the picture looking back at me.)

 Time and activities got really busy and somehow I never got that opportunity to talk to her like I wanted to. and that really bothers me. I pray for her every day that God will bless her the way he blessed me. always be by her side and show her there is light at the end of her tunnel. the other kids will some day stop using her as a target and she will find something positive about herself and build her self esteem from that.
 I contacted my dear wonderful friend Richard and asked him what her name was. he confirmed my observations and said she doesn't have many friends and no family. the other kids always make jokes about her and she cries a lot. I asked Richard if he thought it would be OK if my daughter Julia wrote her a letter. Richard sent me a smiley face and her full name and address!
        Julia is nothing like me! She is so out going and funny and smart. she never lets people walk all over her or make fun of her. But I also know she can be a bully herself. I think it is important that I teach her how to treat everyone equally and not make others feel bad about themselves. I talked to her about the little girl in Uganda. Julia was really upset. "That's not nice mommy! she should have at least one friend that she can talk to." I asked her if she wanted to be that friend? "how?" I gave her the paper and told her to write her a letter.

We have received a letter back from Julia's new pen pal. and Julia put it on display in my entry way.  . everyday Julia writes new letters to her new friend and in each letter, without any influence from me, she writes a compliment to hopefully make her friend feel good about herself.

this is not an attempt to say I'm such a great mommy but just to show you that I have such a great daughter :)

our littlest princess

I have been seeing those super cute lace crowns all over Pinterest! I had to make one!

 Best part the all supplies, I had on hand! I really haven't been brave enough yet to venture out on my own with all three of my girls just yet.

any way I cut up a piece of lace in the shape of a crown:

 Dipped it in home made modge podge

 Next I set it on some wax paper and a cookie sheet and let it cook on low for about ten minutes. or until the glue was set. (this is to help stiffen the lace)

 Now your lace is supposed to peal off the wax paper but for some reason mine did not. so instead of trying to fix it I just cut around the wax paper and left it stuck on there.

 Then I painted it with Gold paint

  and Added a ribbon

 Striped my baby naked and laid her on a bed. placed the crown on top and snapped away. believe it or not this was the only picture I got of Stella where she is not crying. She's not a fan of being in her birthday suit.

 and just because I can't get enough of how cute my youngest is here is a few more pictures

 I just want to eat her up!

Killing Sponge Bob

I hate sponge bob! not really it's nothing personal I just hated how the Julia seemed to revolve her life around this cartoon! she would choose him over her friends or playing outside. plus hearing his squeaky loud annoying laugh every minute of the day was just about to send me to a mental ward!!!!!.

(maybe its a little personal)

my husband and I agreed to get rid of cable about a year and a half ago. I thought it would be hard on all of us but now I see how much a waste it really was. all that money and time spent in front of the TV and getting nothing in return except nightmares of a stupid sponge flipping burgers! So glad we put a stop to it.

Like I said before the girls still get to watch two cartoons a day and sometimes I do expand that for a movie I like to watch my days of our lives and the news but after that we turn it off and listen to the radio while we do arts and crafts or just play in the toy room. Then after supper we watch Wheel of fortune together then its more play time and at 8 o'clock time for baths and getting ready for bed

On this day I wanted to make pillows for our couch. I hardly ever buy fabric. usually I use old clothes or  curtains or just scrap fabric laying around. I started sewing and made 4 different pillows only problem I needed stuffing..............

OOOOoo SPONGE BOB!!!!!!

 I think I got a little too much enjoyment in cutting him up to use his insides :)

 But his loss is my gain look how pretty they turned out!

 Miss Belle wanted to show you how she sleeps on them..... she's a funny one :P

Rules and measurements

ever since I bought it I have been wanting to paint EVERYTHING with  the chalk board paint! 

I have to hold back on that urge and really think about where would be a good place. I desided to do the hallway leading to the kitchen. 

here I could write out our family rules for everyone to read:

 on the oppiste side of the rules is where we mark the girls heights on the door-way.  The first measurements were done on the day we moved in and we will mark them again on their birthdays. 

We marked Stella's first one is on the day we brought her home from the hospital. She wasn't to happy:

Granny's Night Gown

I love my in-laws! I really do! They are very funny sweet caring people. Brian's aunt Marie came up from Delaware for the wedding and brought with her some Hawaiian dresses for all the women of the family to wear. This is my dress:

 I put on almost 40 pounds with this pregnancy. I know everyone kept saying i looked tiny and was all belly. That might of been true but I felt huge and uncomfortable!!! I tried on the dress and almost started crying! I told my husband I couldn't wear it! He looked at me all seriously and said "You have to wear it!"

 I was so torn. I knew it would kill his aunt Marie if I didn't show up with my dress on but I mean seriously I look like I am wearing a huge granny night gown!!!

Then the light bulb went off in my head!!!!

 

I still felt huge but was way more comfortable and his aunt Marie had the biggest smile on her face when she saw what I did :) 

P.S. Miss Belle proved she was my child that night she danced to EVERY song!!!

Hawaiian wedding

This is Tracy and Paul. Tracy is my husbands cousin. She had asked me to photograph her wedding and I knew the date of the wedding was almost the same time I was due to give birth! but she was family and I love weddings so I said as long as I am not at the hospital I will do it..... somehow!

I am so glad it all fell into place and I was able to take pictures!

 Tracy and Paul had a Hawaiian theme wedding. VERY VERY laid back!! I was determined to make sure her pictures reflected her theme and the happiness of the day, since obviously there are no beaches in Cincinnati, I was afraid this would be hard, but I am really happy with the way they turned out!

sand from the old ball field made to look like beach sand :)

 Tracy's dad's old boat as the back drop for flower pictures :)

 details of the wedding theme

 all the bright colors!

 I found this old wooden fence and with the blue sky and green grass, I thought it gave off a Hawaiian vibe.

 love the light reflection in this one, and the look in her eyes! she was SO happy!

 nothing says party in Hawaii like LIMBO!

 When I said it was a very laid back kind of wedding I was not kidding:

 and even with all this happy crazy fun times I still saw a lot of LOVE!

 And even a rainbow!!!!!!!! perfect!

Congratulations Tracy and Paul!

Stella Josephine Taylor

When Father Hilary was here he led the mass that weekend. He talked about Elizabeth the mother of St. John the Baptist. He focused on the fact that they were going to name him Zachary after his father until an angel came to the parents and told them to call him John meaning God is gracious.  Father Hilary preached about how important our names are. They are the first glimpse of who we are as a person. What legacy our name will leave on this earth.

My husband wanted to name our third child since he had no say in the other two. He thought very hard and very long. I knew he would come up with something sweet and yet still strong for our baby girl. Then he told me he loved the name Stella and her middle name would be after the women that raised him his grandma Josephine. I thought it sounded perfect! I looked up the meanings behind the names and fell in love with it even more! Stella means star and Josephine means God will multiply. 

Stella Josephine Taylor

7-15-2012

7:59 pm

6 lbs 15 oz

19 inches 

 I was scheduled to be induced at 2 pm that day. We arrived and got settled into our room. things were moving along slowly at first. The contractions were picking up but I felt like I could handle it. then the doctor said she wanted to go ahead and break my water. so if I wanted the epidural I should get it now. My grandma stopped by to give me and the new baby a present and while she was visiting the nurse checked me. This was an hour after my water was broken and I was a complete ten centimeters!! My grandma didn't know what to do. she decided to sit down. My husband came over to hold my hand and my mom got out the camera.

                                                                    

                                                                         Then she was here!

                                                               The next day Stella's big sisters came to meet her.

                                          

                                          Mommy played dress up with her for a little bit.

 Stella is nothing like her sisters so far. very mellow and content. I was fully preparing myself for round three of all nighters and constant crying. But Stella sleeps for 4-6 hours straight and when she's not asleep shes just looking around taking in the world. I am crazy about her head full of dark hair. she has Julia's chin and Belle's eyes and her daddy's ears. she's perfect! I love being her mommy and I am excited to watch her grow and become the star God added to our family :)