Kristin Hill Taylor

Seeking God as the Author of Every Story

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The {Toddler} Leader of the Pack

March 19, 2017 by Kristin 2 Comments

I walked Rachel into the nursery at Bible study a few days ago and one of the sweet workers said, “Here comes the leader of the pack!”

Apparently my 18-month-old girl is a leader in the nursery at a church we don’t actually even attend. I’m pretty sure that means she doesn’t want to be held and rocked like a few of the others and isn’t shy to express what she wants. I’m also pretty sure she’s stopped stealing other kids’ pacifiers, so that’s good news.

Y’all, this girl is a leader. I know, she’s little, but her personality is so big and fun and funny. Here we are, half way between 1 and 2. My baby isn’t so babyish anymore, and it’s so much fun to watch her discover the world around her.

Oh, and discover she does.

She’s recently learned to climb into chairs – the rocking chair in her room, the kitchen chairs, and the bar-height chairs around our dining room table. She tries to keep up with the big kids and mimics anything we do like a champ.

Her vocabulary is expanding: Momma, Daddy, shoes, mmmm for more, thank you, hi-ee, bye-ee, nigh-night, and chee-eese are the usual words. Just this past week, she started saying “cook” for “book,” which reminded her she knows “cookie.” She calls any small child, stuffed animal or real animal baby. I’m shocked she doesn’t say Ben or Cate yet. And I really love when she uses “thank you” appropriately and tries to say “love you.”

In addition to cookies, she loves popcorn, chips, and milk. She doesn’t reject much of anything though.

She runs most anywhere she goes. She sings and dances. She likes to wobble around the trampoline. She opens drawers and cabinets faster than anyone I know.

Our family is better off because of this one girl who is right between 1 and 2. She changed us from the very beginning, has kept us on our toes since, and makes people happy everywhere she goes. I pray we all grasp the adventure & joy around us like Rachel does as the leader of the pack.

*****

Look back on Rachel’s growth :: One month. Two months. Three months. Four months. Five months. Six months. Seven months. Eight months. Nine months. Ten months. Eleven months. One year. 

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Filed Under: Rachel Tagged With: life, motherhood

Comments

  1. Joanne Viola says

    March 19, 2017 at 12:37 pm

    Every post and picture about Rachel makes me smile. I am so glad you share the joy!

    Reply
    • Kristin says

      March 19, 2017 at 7:22 pm

      Thank you. I’m glad she can make so many people smile.

      Reply

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About Me

Telling stories is my therapy and I love sharing them with friends on my porch.

The main characters in my stories are my entrepreneur husband, our high school girl who never forgets, our middle school boy who has no fear, and our joy-filled first-grade girl. As we live out our stories, we seek God as the author of them all.

Learn more about my story here.

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@racershoops camp was so fun for Rachel and a few @racershoops camp was so fun for Rachel and a few of her friends! Despite all the basketball she has consumed as a spectator, I didn’t know how Rachel was going to feel about playing basketball. 

Spoiler: She enjoyed it, learned to grab rebounds, scored on the 10-foot goal, and turned extra cartwheels to celebrate. 

Big brother gets his turn next week. We love our Racers and are grateful to have these opportunities. 

#84daysofsummer #basketballcamp #basketball #RacerNation #WeAreRacers #momlife #thirdchild #summerisbest #girlmom
🎶 All throughout my history / Your faithfulness 🎶 All throughout my history / Your faithfulness has walked beside me / The winter storms made way for spring / In every season, from where I'm standing / I see the evidence of Your goodness / All over my life … 🎶 @joshbaldwin in “Evidence”

I love summer. But my summer has started off busy: appointments, book edits deadline, establish new habits with the kids at home. All that’s necessary and good, it just cuts into my down time beside the pool. 

Today we have two open gyms for our basketball players, my book study with a few friends, a new weekly high school girls’ book study at our house, and a monthly dad-son character study. 

I long for a little more white space on the calendar, but I also wouldn’t change a thing because the kids are only 16, 13, and 7 once. This summer will only be this summer once. And I’ve already learned time flies with big kids. 

So here we are finding out footing, singing praises with church friends on our porch, grilling delicious chicken, and squeezing in the wide-open spaces when we can. This is evidence of the good stuff. 

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The Hill family reunion at @shelterpointretreat ha The Hill family reunion at @shelterpointretreat has become a favorite tradition to kick off summer! The weather was perfect and everyone enjoyed one another. 

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But this made me wonder: how do we know if a book is going to be weird, contain elements we don’t like, or go places that don’t make sense? I don’t like to read much about a book before I read the book. Usually, I do a better job of picking books for myself. 

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I needed this low-key weekend that was pleasant we I needed this low-key weekend that was pleasant weather, a mixture of productivity and rest, and had plenty of wide-open space to enjoy our property and each other. 

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And that’s a wrap on soccer season! I love watch And that’s a wrap on soccer season! I love watching them both play. 

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“The Only Survivors” worked well because there was a lot happening! Lots of creepy, mysterious moments. Only so many people could be guilty of infiltrating a small group who had lots of secrets! 

I loved the timeline of this one. The back story about an accident was told in seven one-hour segments. The present mystery was told in seven days. 

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Y’all we are very ready for summer. ☀️ And Y’all we are very ready for summer. ☀️ 

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I want to savor the #84daysofsummer and I want to embrace this new season. And it’s almost time. Three more days of school. (Deep breaths.) 

Meanwhile, I’m going to keep collecting the moments — the hard, hurried, happy, and heartfelt. The seasons do change, but this is the life we are living. 

“The moments you collect may not be loud or flashy. They might be quiet or covered or a far-off view you were lucky to catch. But this I know to be true: A moment savored says to your soul, ‘You have lived something beautiful.’ And it keeps you buoyed. It sustains you when you’re running empty. It lifts you up and carries you forward.” — Joanna Gaines in @magnolia summer 2023 journal issue no. 27 

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