Reasons Why I Love My Husband

This entry isn't really so much for the world to read as it is a nice accounting and reminder for me of some of the myriad reasons why I love my husband. These will particularly come in handy during times when he is being, well, less than lovable. Note to self: COME TO BLOG WHEN HUSBAND IS BEING LESS THAN LOVABLE. So here's a start:

-He is kind. He is soft-hearted and goes out of his way to help people, especially family.

-He loves spending time with family. Rob embraced my family from the time we were dating, and in return, everyone embraced him right back! Family is important to him, just as it is to me.

-He is a chivalrous gentleman. From the time we were dating, he has always opened and closed my car door, and continues to do so. He also opens store doors, restaurant doors...any doors, really. The man loves opening doors! Maybe it's not so much the opening doors part as it is being a gentleman and being raised well. He drops me off when there is no parking and he needs to park far (this is a gem where lazy people are concerned). He also always walks on the outside of the sidewalk (closest to cars), and I'm pretty sure if there was a huge puddle like they always portray in cartoons and old Hollywood films, he'd lay his jacket down or find some other creative way to keep me dry. 

-He is funny. He makes me laugh ALL the time. He uses this to his advantage, as he has made me laugh during times where I REALLY wanted to be mad at him. How dare you ruin my bratty snobbery with humor?! It's one of his saving graces - and when I think about it, his humor is a saving grace for me, too.

-He is spiritual. He may not go to church regularly, but he has a relationship with God, and that is so important to me. His convictions and morals are faith-based, and he supports me in my religious beliefs.

-He is SEXY! See: Dimples, biceps, smoldering eyes, etc. 

OK, OK. That's enough gawking, people. Move it along.

-He is a provider by nature. He enjoys taking care of his family and being the head of the household.

-He is a great dancer. I love that he has rhythm. Even if he didn't, I'd still love him, but at least now I have a legit dance partner!

-He's just plain COOL. From his style to his charisma to his love of sports and affinity for all things Michigan, people gravitate towards him and love being his friend. 

-He is thoughtful. He is great at giving gifts because he pays attention. More important than gifts are the thoughtful gestures he does. Two days ago, I was so tired from waking up to feed the baby, and I was very grouchy. He took the baby downstairs so that I could rest. I woke up at 12(!!!?!?!?!) completely disoriented to discover he had fed the baby (who was out cold sleeping peacefully), given the baby a bath, washed the dishes, sterilized the bottles, and hung and folded all of my laundry from the previous day. I posted this on a Mommy Facebook page I'm a part of, and it literally got 385 likes. Everyone and their mom appreciates a hubby like this. One girl even asked if he could start a school! (HA!)

-He is driven. When we met, he had the next 15 years of his life all planned out, including a double retirement. Planning and foresight are attractive! 

-He is assertive. He has no problem standing up for himself (or me) when necessary. This is an excellent trait for a Hawaii grown girl like me who was nurtured to avoid confrontation like the plague. It's that Detroit, baby!

-He embraces my culture. He definitely has his own cultural swag (are the young people still saying swag? I'm so old. At least I didn't say mojo.), but is so open to trying new food, listening to new music, and even surfing (he is an addict at this point). It makes me happy that he tries to understand and enjoy the things that I love and come from.

-He knows how to say, "I'm sorry." This is big. No one is ever right all the time, and it takes a humble person to admit when they are wrong. 

-He is super easy going. Keep the house cleanish, make anything for dinner, and he's a happy guy. 

-He is independent and knows how to clean a house and cook if he needs to. Granted, I try to  do what I can for the household since I'm staying home, but he doesn't hesitate to help where it's needed or take the initiative to get something done.

-He loves me the way I am. Through thick (and thicker these days!) and thin, good and bad, flaws and all, he accepts me as I am and sees potential in me.

-He is the father of my beautiful baby! Literally couldn't have had Uriah without him!

-He is an outstanding and hands-on Father. Feedings, diaper changes, late night/early morning cajoling, swaddling, rocking, singing, tummy time, this Daddy does it all. He is my partner in all senses of the word.

-He is mine. When we were dating, I couldn't believe that there was someone this amazing still out there. How did this happen?! I was waiting for the baggage and for the bombs to explode, and they never came. I do not take for granted the fact that I am blessed to share my life with this person. 

Obviously, I haven't even scratched the surface here, but these are a few of the things that immediately jumped out to me. I could be editing for weeks, and probably even years if I sat here long enough pondering it. 

He will be outwardly mortified by this entry. But inwardly, who doesn't like hearing how much someone loves them? :)

Smiling and Bathtime and Beach, Oh My!

One of the main reasons why i wanted to do a blog was so that I could keep a record of Uriah's baby milestones as best I could. I am a realist and know that I have never been crafty  or creative, nor organized when it comes to scrapbooking, and didn't want to lose any precious moment because of some technical deficiencies. So! My solution was to blog what I could, include pictures, and when I have time to update the actual baby books, I will have all of the relevant information ready! (still doesn't sound so convincing, does it? Well, it's a start!)

Uriah's a pleasant, happy baby. We are so lucky in that he only cries at this point when there is something wrong: tired, hungry, wet, cold/hot, gassy. He is easy to appease and has such a relaxed temperament. 

-This brings me to his first milestone: RESPONSIVE SMILING!

Uriah started consistently smiling in response to us when he was two and a half weeks old. From everything I've read and seen, this is very early for babies. Even at his two month appointment, the pediatrician commented that Uriah was a "social butterfly" and a bit more advanced socially then they would expect a two month old to be. I attribute his happiness in part to his awesome, happy parents! Seriously, though, I know that babies are part nature part nurture, and lucky for us, the nature part of Uriah on its own was predisposed to being happy and easy going. 

Exhibit A: June 23

Exhibit B: July 3

Exhibit C: July 16

In unrelated but mind-boggling news - look at how Uriah has filled out in two short months! The below picture is when Uriah was two weeks old. He looks like a completely different baby. Hooray for healthy eating! (He does have that Kimokeo blood, after all!)

After so many smiling pictures, I thought I would jazz things up a little.

SECOND MILESTONE COMING RIGHT UP: BATHTIME!

Uriah's first official bath in his baby bath was June 23. We had to wait for his umbilical cord to dry up and fall off, so prior to this day, we had been wiping him down. We were so excited to give him a bath! He loved it too! Here's a picture of him getting a bath from Grandma Taylor and Daddy. If you look close enough, context clues should give a good idea of the excitement that was going on in the picture. Hints: Grandma is holding a diaper up doubling as a shield, and Daddy's face should be a dead give away!

THIRD MILESTONE: BEACH DAY - HAAAAAA-Y-N!

Uriah's First Beach Day (which we consider him actually putting his feet in the water) was just this past week! He absolutely loved the water! I was surprised because I thought it would be too cold for him, but apparently, it was just as refreshing for him as it was for us! I'm always asking my Dad if Bellows will have Portuguese man of wars, because he's a surf guru and knows all the beaches and the trade winds, and whether weather will affect our fun! That day, Dad said not to risk Bellows and suggested we go to Pokai Bay on the West Side. Why have we forsaken the West side beaches all these years?! Driving down, there were so many beautiful, unpopulated beaches! Side note: Rob and I  plan to explore the West side beaches more in the coming months. Pokai Bay was perfect and so beautiful! It was like glassy and clear like a pool, with only a handful of people! Of course, this was before we discovered that they had a shark sighting five days earlier, but I figure, it's an ocean, and sharks are everywhere! Also, Eddie Would Go, so naturally, Taylors went. I was just extra observant that day! We all survived unscathed.

Let's not forget what a stud I married!

Baby Uriah's Birth Story - June 04, 2015

I wish that I had been keeping up a pregnancy blog while I was pregnant, but oh well! Maybe next go around!

June 04, 2015 will forever remain one of the most special days of my life. Even with years (hopefully!) ahead of me, I can say with assurance that the day my son was born will always be a cherished day I hold close to my heart. 

Being that Rob and I were a bit older when we got married, we decided that we wanted to try to have kids right away. It's one of those things in the back of my head that I was always worried about - the fact that you never really know if you'll have a hard time getting pregnant until you're actually trying to get pregnant. Luckily, by September, we discovered that we were expecting our first baby - a BOY! Since the time that we found out, Rob and I had been anxiously awaiting the arrival of our precious son.

Uriah, on the other hand, was having SUCH a good time in heaven that he took his sweet ol' time (and I'm pretty sure they had to nudge him out!) getting here. Uriah's original due date was May 28, 2015. Well, that day was absolutely and frustratingly normal, and came and went as any other day. Keep in mind, at 39 weeks, I started trying to facilitate the process by any possible suggestion my midwives, sisters, friends, or random internet posts provided! Despite my efforts, Uriah was in no hurry. As a result, my OB/GYN decided to schedule an induction date of June 03. Funnily enough, at about 10 am on June 03, I started having regular contractions about every 10 mins apart. At about 1pm, it got closer to 5 mins apart and we got ready to head to the hospital, but they started spreading out again. Since we were to be induced later that afternoon (5pm), we decided to spend time with Grandma and Grandpa Bird. We were there for a few hours (our visits, even if intended to be short, always end up longer at that house - and we love that!), then left in time to get to the hospital at 5. 

When we got to the hospital, the nurse wanted to hold off on the induction since my contractions were regular and my cervix was softening. Within the first few hours of my hospital stay, I was making progress, but at about 130am, my progression halted. My midwife suggested I walk around for an hour to try to break my water and softening of the cervix. I was absolutely not thrilled at that prospect since I was still having regular contractions, and they were getting painful. Lucky for me, I have an ultra assertive husband who, upon hearing that suggestion, said, "Absolutely not. We want to use the pitocin." MY HERO! 

Before pitocin came the epidural. The epidural was not only painful while being administered, BUT the anesthesiologist literally couldn't find the right "space" for the needle and, as a result, took about 20 minutes to finally stick me properly. Keep in mind, while getting an epidural, it is imperative that you stay as still as possible because they are dealing with your spine and could cause serious injury if it hits a wrong spot. Every time the epidural needle went in, I could feel the needle go in deep until it "zinged" my spine. The lady was asking "do I need to move it to the left, right, or does it feel centered?" Um.....you are relying on me to determine that? SCARY. I wish that I wasn't so concentrated on not moving during contractions because I probably would've taken her name down for reference. She chalked it up to my bones being really closely fused together, and said she needed to try another area. FINALLY, she got it and within a matter of minutes, I was feeling much better! (and by feeling much better, i mean I was feeling NOTHING. lol.) My entire lower left side was like a tree stump...a 2,000 pound, water logged, dead tree stump. Just how I wanted it! As the nurses came by to check my dilation and move positions in hopes of helping Uriah move down to the birth canal, they were left to their own devices to get my left leg bent. My right side was not much better, but at least I could help a little with the movement there.  

The nurses and doctors tried everything to get stubborn Uriah down into the right position/the birth canal, but Uriah was not having it. Despite moving me from side to side every half hour and bending my legs with pillows propping me up, despite the pitocin, despite my water breaking (nurse checking my cervix "accidentally"? popped it while checking my dilation), and despite my contractions being strong and close together, Uriah was still too high up in my stomach and as a result, my doctor determined my progress was at a stand-still at about 6:30pm on June 04, 2015. She suspected that Uriah's head was too large for the birth canal, and she was right - he has consistently been in the 98% for head measurements at his checkups since birth. With our options limited, Rob and I agreed to a c-section to get Uriah out.

The C-section was a blur and seemed to go really fast. Although I was heavily drugged up, I do distinctly remember that the c-section surprised me with how much it still hurt even with anesthesia and my epidural in full force. I think because Uriah was still so high, it was particularly painful because they had to "push" Uriah down to the incision site to get him out. I vividly recall the doctors applying forceful pressure on my stomach, then tugging to get the baby out (Rob seems to recall at one point the doctor appeared propped up on the table to apply downward pressure) to the point where I had tears rolling down my face. Once I felt the "pop" of the baby being out, and heard that first cry, though, I had an immediate relief and distraction from the tugging and pulling to reorganize my insides and seal my incision up. At 8:15 p.m., Uriah La`ahia Taylor made his debut into this bright, cold, and foreign world weighing in at 7 pounds 11 ounces and 21 inches in length. 

What's in a name? 

Uriah: A valiant, loyal, and brave warrior in the Bible. Literally translates to "the Lord is my light/fire." Rob has loved this name for years, and the name really grew on me. It was a toss up between Elijah and Uriah, but during my third trimester, I knew that his name would be Uriah. While I loved Elijah, I felt nothing when I talked to the baby and used the name Elijah. Uriah was innately right.

La`ahia - a sacred desire or delight set apart for a specific, consecrated time. La`ahia has definitely lived up to his name, as he has determined when he entered this world despite concerted efforts to bring him earlier throughout homeopathic and medical interventions. Additionally, we found out that we were expecting while in Michigan for Rob's father's funeral. What was such a sad, emotionally heavy experience was blessed with hope and love when we discovered the next generation Taylor was on his way to us. We were so happy to be able to leave our grieving family with such exciting, happy news.

Rob brought baby Uriah up next to me and laid him on my chest while the surgeons finished my procedure. Despite being high as a kite, I remember crying tears of happiness this time, and felt an instant and intense love the moment Uriah was next to me. 

Recovery for the surgery was about an hour. I started shaking violently and uncontrollably, and remember shivering and feeling very cold. They put a warm blanket on me and within a matter of minutes I started feeling better. Apparently, I lost a lot of blood to the point where they were monitoring me for a blood transfusion even into the next day, but thankfully, everything leveled out and my recovery went probably as good as one can expect considering major abdominal surgery. Throughout our hospital stay, the staff at Castle hospital was so accommodating and helpful, and I truly hope that I am in Hawaii for my next baby so I can deliver there again. 

Uriah and Rob are my greatest blessings in this life. Even after 34 hours of labor and all of the hiccups along the way, at the end of it all, I have the most precious, sweet baby that I've been entrusted to care for and love. I love you son and look forward to so many more happy and exciting years with you!