Ms. Tay

3 years ago today, I was in a hospital bed at Kaiser Panorama City. At about 5 am I woke up to find a sweet little baby beside me in one of those hospital baby beds, crying softly, with a bruised and bloody ear from being pushed half way out and then shoved back in, only to be cut out of my belly shortly after that. Now we were both tired and recovering, and I paged a nurse to pick her up for me since it felt like my insides had been pulled out and carelessly thrown back in.(Which is pretty much what happened.) Taylor looked at me in that newborn baby way that makes you realize how recently they've left the presence of Heaven. She fell asleep and I fell in love. But I knew that she wasn't just mine. She was sort of there for everyone at that time. We all needed a little hope. She was probably the most anticipated baby in that maternity ward. I remember my sister holding her and saying, "Hello, Ms. Tay." It fit her. Ms. Tay is how we referred to her for a long time, since she always seemed to be a bit older than she was. And today Ms. Tay's 3. She changed our life in so many ways and we love her so much. I want to remember that at age 3, Taylor loves dressing up like a princess. She will sit and "read" books for an hour. She can navigate the computer like a pro. She always says, "I love you dairy, dairy much mommy." She is always waiting for Daddy to come home. She lives to spend play time with family. She wants to put on makeup with me every morning. She loves to reenact "The Lizard of Oz" (not a typo) with me as every character, except Dorothy of course. She reminds me to stop thinking so much and just play. She's helped me clean up my language by reminding me that, "We don't say 'crap' or 'shut up'." And most of all she just makes us happy. Even on the days when she is a stinker and challenges my patience, she always finds a way to make me laugh. I love her more than she will probably ever know. But that just comes with the territory of parenthood, right? I don't think we knew how much love we could have in our hearts until she came to us.

I read an article in TIME about how much kids cost these days. The author summed it up by saying, "Kids give you an excuse to work on your fastball. They're excellent bed warmers, and small fingers can untie hopeless knots. They remind you to be brave and trusting, and that few things worth accomplishing are ever achieved without making a mess first. They often say better prayers than you could ever think to. They smell really good when they're clean. And yes, they are reminders of our mortality-in fact, I know I'm going gray a lot faster than I would have had I been childless, especially now that I have a teenager. But it's a cosmic gift that, in letting us grow up with them,they keep us young, so that sometime maybe we pass each other, the student becoming the teacher, the parent the child, and we will sit back and marvel at who they've become, knowing they are now smarter and stronger than we are. We'll savor their company and feel safe in their hands. Care to put a price on that?"

Questions and Quotes from Taylor This Week:

"Alynna's here! She's ganna snuggle me."

"Mommy, where does Jesus live?"

Tay:"What does it mean?"

Nikki: "What does what mean?"

Tay: "Bide my time. The Wicked Witch says 'I'm ganna bide my time'."

Nikki:.......It means she'll wait.

Tay: Oh.

Nikki:.......stunned silence

She's on a "Snow White" kick this week.

Joseph (our celebrity neighbor) and Taylor, who's so sick of pictures that I promised her tonight I wouldn't take so many.
Corinne, happy as ever.

The police line-up picture.