Heather Londyn Taber

Please join us in welcoming Heather Londyn Taber to our family.

Heather Londyn Taber

I'll let Anne post the rest of the details tomorrow or Saturday, but for now, here are the basics along with a few photos.

Name: Heather Londyn Taber - We had originally been leaning towards Londyn Heather, but everyone, from Chris down to Chase said when they held her that she just seemed more like a "Heather Londyn" than a "Londyn Heather"

Born: 3:50 am on 11 September 2008. After a 24 hour delay due to no beds available at the hospital (first 12 hours of delay), then not enough doctors available if Anne's labor progressed quickly (ha! not this time! - second 12 hours of delay), Anne got started at 7:30 am and labored until almost 1:00am. Thankfully, she got an epidural at about 6:00pm and had a much better time of it after that. I'll leave the rest of the details for one of Anne's posts

Weight: 4.514 kg, or 9 lbs 15 ozs. For those keeping score at home, this is slightly larger than Isabelle (9 lbs 6 ozs) and much more than Chase (6 lbs 15 ozs).


Length: 22 inches. This is an unofficial measurement, since they don't measure length for babies born in the UK - they measure the circumference of the head - which I suspect most Moms would find a more useful measurement than length, but what do I know? (Of course, I forgot to write down the circumference measurement, so I'll leave that to Anne to share)


Hair: Yes. Lots of dark brown hair, similar to Isabelle when she was born. In fact, see if you can tell which is which from the photos below...


Eyes: Dark brown, though Chase and Isabelle are convinced they are dark blue. I will say that the light in the room where we were when the children came to visit was not the greatest, so this "stat" should also be considered unofficial.


Now a few FAQs from some of the emails and Facebook responses I've been getting from people over the past few hours, so I don't lose track of who asked which question when:

1. How is Anne doing? She's doing well - exhausted, but well. I took the children over to visit from 10:30 or so this morning until about 4:00, and then left for the day so that Anne could get some much-needed rest. I then fell asleep on the bus several times and Isabelle and Chase had to keep waking me up to ask if we had missed our stop - we hadn't. I'll go back in the morning after taking the children to school (they didn't go today) and hopefully they'll be able to come home then.



2. What was it like giving birth in the UK vs. the US? I'll let Anne give more details if she likes, but overall I think Anne had a fairly positive experience, though being far from family and not having any of them here this week meant that we had to rely on our extended ward family to help us out with taking Isabelle & Chase to school, letting them stay overnight, etc. - even laundering their school uniforms when we they had to stay a night longer than expected. They were absolute lifesavers!



3. What's the standard of care like in the NHS? Again, Anne can share her opinions, but one thing we were really grateful for was to be able to deliver in the newer Queen Charlotte's & Chelsea hospital rather than the older Hammersmith hospital which adjoins it(and we're talking WWII-era and looks like it hasn't been updated or cleaned since then). Probably one of the biggest adjustments was adjusting to the different names and terminology used. Anne's diabetes management had to switch meter readings from mg/deciliter to mmol/liter, two totally different scales where the adjustment factor between the two is to multiply the latter by about 18 to get the former, so lots of mental math involved. Diapers are nappies. Finger sticks (to check blood sugar levels) are referred to as BMs...took me awhile to figure out why they kept asking about that once an hour or so. Not all "doctors" are referred to as "Dr." So-and-so, but some are "Mr." or "Mrs.", while others are "Dr."... The doctors refer to the midwives as Sister So-and-so, even though this was not a Catholic hospital.



4. How do British and American hospitals differ in their philosophies on childbirth. Agin, my male-oriented observations only at this point, but it seemed to me that this time around, Anne was really encouraged to take things as slowly as possible, whereas in the States, sometimes it seemed like "OK, we need you to move along now, so we're just gonna do this with your medications, etc."



5. Will the baby have dual US-UK citizenship? Most likely not. Everything I've read seems to indicate that since 1983, the UK does not automatically grant citizenship (or the right to dual citizenship) to babies born here. In order to claim dual citizenship, we'd have to either show that the baby's grandparents were British Citizens or that we had a reasonable expectation to remain in the UK indefinitely, neither of which are true (though my father's mother was born and raised here)

I think that covers the most frequent questions we've been getting, so if I missed one, leave a comment and I'll try to respond.

Back to School

So now that the school year has officially started, I was thinking it would be appropriate to fill in what we've been doing since I last bothered to update our blog:

Today was the first day of the new school year. Isabelle is now in Year 3 and Chase in Year 1. They must have been excited because they asked me to make routine charts for them again (which we haven't done since we lived in Texas) and this morning when the alarm went off, I opened my eyes to Chase standing right next to my side of the bed fully dressed in his school uniform. "Are you excited to start school today?" "Yeah..."

By the way, Chase did his own hair...it's a faux-hawk:

Shortly after the last entry, we travelled to New York for Drew & Polina's wedding. All the guests were dressed in white as well as the bridal party. The event took place on a beach in Brooklyn, with a light breeze and blue sky (despite the several days it had been forcasting rain). The men sang Iz's version of Somewhere Over the Rainbow as they escorted the women in. Then the two Dads walked together, followed shortly by the bride escorted by her mother. Polina was dressed in a flowing gown the color of sunshine, which was beautifully backdropped by the blue and white of the sky, sand, bridal party and guests. It was a joyous occasion and hopefully, everything Drew & Polina had hoped for.

So, if Isabelle's eyes were open this would be a nice family photo:

Anne & Aunt Katie:

The weekend went much too quickly with not nearly enough time to spend with family, but the time we did get to spend together was memorable and a lot of fun. Katie had never been to NYC before, so on the last day some of us went sight seeing together and then branched off; Uncle Mark, Aunt Katie, Isabelle & I enjoyed roasted nuts from a street vendor and walking down 5th Ave and through Rockefeller Center. Uncle Carson took Chase to Central Park and Lincoln Center and enjoyed authentic NYC hotdogs for dinner. It was a fun day and a great way to end the trip.

Uncle Mark & Isabelle near Central Park NYC:

A couple of weeks after we got home, Isabelle and I had a "girls day out" and saw the stage production of "High School Musical." We speculated before it started about whether or not it would be with American or English accents - they were American. It was a lot of fun and Isabelle got a notebook that looks like a letterman's jacket.

To make things fair (of course), Daddy and Chase also got an outing: they saw Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull. It was many days after that we heard Grandpa would be in our neck of the woods, so (at Isabelle's suggestion) Daddy and Chase took the train to Paris to spend a couple of days with Grandpa. (As generous as Isabelle may sound, I think it was a self-serving motive so she could have some Grandma-time all to herself!) The report we got upon their return home was that Chase loved Paris and wants me and Isabelle to go, and we got several etiquette lessons and reminders - esp when it comes to table manners. One of the highlights of the trip - aside from seeing Grandpa, of course - was trying escargot for the first time. "So how was it?" I asked. "It's only my favorite food in the whole world!" was Chase's response. How weird is that? Isabelle's favorite food is shrimp and Chase's is snails!

Coincidentally, Grandma Colleen arrived in London for a two-week visit around the same time Grandpa arrived in Paris. The children planned most of the places they wanted her to see and highlights included the Butterfly Exhibit at the Natural History Museum, the chocolate room and sweet shop at Harrods, and of course Hamley's Toy Shop. Grandma and I also worked on Redwork embroidery squares for a quilt for the baby. We found an alphabet by British illustrator Kate Greenaway (1846-1901) which has little children playing around each of the letters. The quilt is turning out to be even cuter than I was hoping! Just have to get to work on piecing it together.

Butterfly Exhibit, Natural History Museum:

A Midsummer Night's Dream, Open Air Theatre, Regents Park:

Inside the Secret Garden, Regents Park:

Picadilly Circus:

Inside the London Eye:Redwork letter for baby quilt:

Which leads us to the present: I am scheduled to be induced, unless she decides to show up even earlier, the baby will be born 09/09/08, which means we are down to the very last few days! We spent last weekend getting the house cleaned and everything washed and put away, and today Chris took the kids to a "Helping Hands" service project at a park in North London. Our church has challenged all the members living in London to do 10 hours of community service this year, with an overall goal of 10,000 hours of service, so they spent two hours today pulling weeds, pruning trees, planting blue bells and primroses, and raking and bagging up leaves. When they got back, Chase announced to Mom "yeah, Dad wore me out today..."

...which is what you probably all are with how long we go between blog posts - we'll try to do better. Chris will post photos and news of our new arrival next week when she arrives, so stay tuned!

April and May

Number Three

Okay, so I admit it. And here it is in writing: I was wrong. I've been anxiously awaiting my 21st week of pregnancy so that I could go to my ultrasound and find out for certain whether baby Taber is a boy or a girl. I have been convinced for a number of reasons that it is a boy, but evidently child number 3 is a stinker and has a cunning sense of humor. For over a month now, I have tried to look at both boy and girl clothes, and the second I look at girl clothes I've felt this child say, "Nope. Not gonna wear that." For over a month now, I've been testing out a name (one that cannot go either way, i.e. is stricly a boy's name) and this little spirit keeps telling me, "Yup, that's it!" So, today I went in for my long-awaited ultrasound and was shown (and it was quite clear) that it is a little girl. I even made the sonographer check again. She's a girl. Don't get me wrong, I am quite happy to have another girl. I am just stumped by her choice of practical joke. It isn't even April Fool's (or maybe that's when this all started and I just didn't get it). Is this a telling sign? Will all of my historically successful parenting tactics blow up in my face? I am almost certain that the answer is a resounding YES! Great. Just what I was hoping for. (Spoken in a monotone voice:) I am so pleased to be faced with this new challenge.

Anyway, here's a photo of the little stinker:

I may still call her "Hulk" - just to get back at her.

Living in London

As for the last few weeks, I am finally able to say I am enjoying living in London. I am at a good place in my pregnancy, and the sun has been shining everyday for over a week now, so as a result I have been out on more outings lately and visiting with more friends.

Primary trip with Isabelle and Chase to the London Temple:

Visiting the "secret garden" and Queen Mary's Gardens at Regents Park:

Family Reunions

We will eventually post some photos and video from Alan's 60th Birthday weekend, but until then suffice it to say that we had a wonderful time with family and friends. DeeDee was a wonderful hostess. Auntie Lynn (Alan's 1st cousin) and Uncle Russ visiting from Australia brought yummy sweets and flattered us with flip flops. Aunt Katie coutured our coiffs and Aunt Polina helped Isabelle host the First Annual Taber-Extended-Family Olympic Obstacle Course. Participants inlcuded Daddy (Chris), all the Uncles (Mark, Drew & Carson), Aunt Katie, Grandpa (Alan) and surprise couple-contestants Uncle John and Aunt Pam (Alan's sis). Video highlights to be posted...well, eventually.

Before the rest of the family flew in Chris, Isabelle and Chase and I spent a day in Morgan Hill and Gilroy shopping at the outlets, eating Mexican food and visiting with old friends - all luxuries we miss when we're in London. We definitely have some very fond memories of the time we lived in Morgan Hill.

And before traveling up to the Bay Area, the children and I enjoyed visiting with family on the Turner side. We stayed with Uncle Eric and Aunt Cindy and their children (Spenser, Corbin, Chandler & Kadyn) and enjoyed sunny weather and family fun with them (and Mexican food and A&W rootbeer - another luxury we just can't get in London for under $40!). Grandma Colleen joined us for a few days and we also enjoyed an afternoon of food and fun with Uncle Craig and Aunt Robin and their four boys (Nathan, Evan, Ryan, and Darren). Aunt Robin delighted the nieces with girly gifts. Eric and I learned some creative parenting tricks from Craig* , I enjoyed catching up with everyone (Althea was there too and Aunt Esther phoned).

*Parenting by Craig and Robin

• Behavioral consequence: "You owe me two squares." Craig showed us a two foot square he'd made of PVC to be placed in the garden and said, "That's how much he has to weed." Brilliant!


• Friendly reminder or warning: "Wanna owe me another square?"

• And, "Go sit in the tub." No angry tone. No water. Fully dressed. Just "go sit in the tub until we're ready to talk to you."

If only I could get my kids to hear me when I speak with a soft tone...

Newest Thread

So clearly, I'm not the best blogger on the internet, or rather consistent blogging has not yet risen to the top ten of my priority list. We have had, however, some fun things happen over the last few weeks;

Chris's brother, Mark and his fiance Katie were married on the Carnival Triumph on January 19 and then kindly allowed the entire Taber Clan to join them on their honeymoon cruise in the Eastern Carribean. We all had a lot of fun and I especially enjoyed having new sisters-in-law to pal around with. Andrew (another Taber brother) is engaged to Polina and their wedding is set for June 22 in New York. 9-10 hours on an airplane with a 5 hour time change is a lot on either end of such a trip, so we all spent a day and half sleeping before we sent the children back to school - what's one more day in the life of a kindergartener or a 2nd grader? So the next day Chris went back to work, the children went back to school, and I went back to bed...for hours. For some reason, I could not keep my eyes open. As it turns out, there was a very good reason. The newest thread in the Taber Tapestry is child number 3!

So I've heard number 3 is the hardest. So far this seems to be true as far as the pregnancy is concerned; I have had to sleep more, and whoever named it "morning sickness" probably was never actually pregnant. The nausea seems to be all day long and the hormones have turned me into crazy person. Fortunately, my family still likes me and Chris says they already new I was crazy, and we've made it through the first 12 weeks. And we are all looking forward to the middle trimester. Not that anyone's asked my opinion, but I think aside from the first time 'round, pregnancy should only consist of the middle trimester. The time when you are typically past the morning sickness, have grown enough to start wearing clothes that are meant for a pregnant body (rather than just making due with what you've got), and are past the narcolepsy and generally you are feeling pretty good and enjoy that new Mommy glow.

Anyway, I recently had my first ultrasound and met with my new health care team (midwife, endocrinologist, etc) at the hospital where the baby will be delivered, and everything seems to be developing as it should.

It's been fun involving the children now that they're really old enough to understand what's going on. When we first sat them down to tell them why mommy had such a short fuse and was taking 3 hour naps everyday, they were both really excited. Isabelle's immediate response was,

"I knew that's what you were going to say!"

"Oh really? How did you know?"

"I prayed about it," she responded matter-of-factly. Ahh, the faith of a child... Since then Isabelle has kept us updated on the weekly developments as outlined in Your Pregnancy Week By Week and Chase has recommendations for names on a daily basis. The first he came up with (supposing it might be twins) was "Batman and Robin." One might think he was just being a cute 4-year-old, but those of us who know Chase recognize that he already has a quick wit! Daddy and I added, "or Kate and Duplicate if it's girls! Or Pete and Repeat!" (in honor of Pete from the cruise) All in all, he actually has come up with some nice names as well, but I think we will wait until we have more of an idea of whether it's going to be a boy or a girl.

Speaking of Batman, Chase just turned 5 on Monday and we threw him a Batman/Superheros party yesterday. He came up with his own guest list including, friends, neighbors, schoolmates, a teenager and some grown ups. We played musical chairs (to the Batman TV show theme), pin the mask on Batman, decorated and ate cupcakes and Chris led the procession outside for some Superhero poses and poppers that shoot streamers. Oh, and Chris had printed out several choices of Superhero symbols for the children to wear - hence the need for Superhero poses. We all had a great time and I am grateful that Chase is 5!

Our next adventure will be another trip to the States in April to celebrate Grandpa's (Alan's) 60th birthday? (Think I should bring the pin the mask on Batman game?)