Kristin Hill Taylor

Seeking God as the Author of Every Story

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Seven!

September 21, 2022 by Kristin Leave a Comment

Earlier this year, Rachel described numbers as even and awkward. My mom and I laughed and laughed about this — and were impressed with her vocabulary as a kindergartner to know “awkward” and “odd” are synonyms. 

Well, now, here we are at 7 years old! I’d say it’s awkward, but it’s not really. Yes, 7 sounds older because, well, I suppose it is. But I love where my girl is. She is doing well in first grade, enjoys playing soccer, plays with Gabby’s Dollhouse toys and her cousin’s hand-me-town Barbie dollhouse, swims, swings, and makes everyone around her smile. She loves big and loud. 

We – especially Cate and I – get frustrated with how long it takes Rachel to finish a chore, eat breakfast, or brush her hair. But this girl loves every moment of life. When she doesn’t get sad, it’s short-lived. I’ve said this her whole life, but it remains true:

Rachel radiates joy. 

As a mom, she’s taught me to appreciate all the little moments and slow down with my responsibilities so I can snuggle her or listen to her long, detailed stories. Greg and I waited and doubted and waited some more that God would grow our family with a third child, but when the time came to adopt Rachel Elizabeth, I was changed in all the best ways. My older kids probably think I’m easier on her, but the truth is I’m a better version of myself now. 

We thought we wanted a third child sooner, but the age gap ended up being perfect. Cate is eight years older and Ben is almost six years older. Their relationships with Rachel have changed throughout the years, depending on how much she’s into their stuff and space, but I love seeing them all shift with each season. 

(I tell lots more of this story of God growing our family through adoption in my book, “Peace in the Process: How Adoption Built My Faith & My Family.” Shameless plug, I know. But when I reflect on what God has done, his faithfulness continues to amaze me.)

We celebrated this birthday girl with a surprise family party earlier this month. Schedules prompted it, but it ended up being just right for her. Then we had her first-grade girl classmates over for what turned into a swim party. We had a string of cool nights just as we replaced our pool liner and refilled the water, so it was quite cold the night of her party. Some girls brought swimsuits and others borrowed from Rachel’s collection. They had a great time swimming, playing, eating burgers and hot dogs and cake. Her actual birthday was two days later and I took cookies and Capri Suns to her class at school and then we made pancake art for dinner. 

I love the way birthdays give me a chance to reflect on life and celebrate those I love most. Rachel’s life is well documented, but here I am with a late birthday post. I’ve been writing this post in my head for days, but I finally got a chance this morning to sit down and type it out. 

Nonetheless, happy birthday, Rachel girl! You bring so much joy to so many people! I’m excited to see your story continue to unfold. 

*****

Look back on Rachel’s past birthdays:  One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six.

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Rachel is 6!

September 19, 2021 by Kristin Leave a Comment

We’ve spent the weekend celebrating our girl who loves a party! 

Rachel is joy personified. I say that often, but it’s always been true. I default to serious mode way too often, but she keeps me smiling and laughing. She’s funny, smart, and loves people. 

She likes to sneak into my bed in the middle of the night so we can snuggle. I’ll take all the love — after sunrise! She swims like a fish, dreams of being a rockstar, and remembers all the words to songs. She likes adventures, having anyone we know over to our house, and prefers not to be alone. 

She doesn’t like to slow down to eat a meal and would prefer to graze all day. She always wants to go back to where we’ve gone before because road trips & adventures are among her love languages. I won’t be sad when she can tell time and remembers the order of the days of the week. She’s going to learn so much in kindergarten, which she loves but does find tiring. She often falls asleep on the way home or on our porch swing before she makes it into the house. She’s always been the kid to resist naps but then lay down on the concrete, put her head down on the table, or contort herself in the booster seat in the minivan … and sleep anyway.

As girly as she can be, Rachel loves all things pink, princessy, and sparkly. She plays soccer — and then sometimes does a cartwheel after she scores. She hugs her opponents, adults, our cats, and often people we barely know. She sometimes says she doesn’t know her letters, but then she aces spelling tests in kindergarten and knows the first letter of so many people’s names.

Now, if I could just get her to stop sticking out her tongue or raising a peace sign (like Mario apparently does when you beat a level on Super Mario Bros.) every time I’m trying to take a picture. Speaking of pictures, just follow my #thirdchild posts on Instagram; she’s a popular subject in my shared squares.

Rachel, 

I hope you always love big and bring others in. You, my girl, are a light, so keep shining brightly. I’m truly thankful you were born and I get to be your mom. You keep me laughing, wondering where you went, and feeling loved well.

Happy 6th birthday, sweet girl! 

Love, Momma

*****

My favorite story of how God made the five of us a family is told in my first book, “Peace in the Process: How Adoption Built My Faith & My Family,” which is available on Amazon or directly from me. 

Look back on Rachel’s past birthdays:  One. Two. Three. Four. Five.

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One-full-hand years old

September 19, 2020 by Kristin Leave a Comment

This girl is really into birthdays — hers and others. She loves a party and loves a crowd of people. So far she’s invited her entire soccer team, probably her preschool class, and the pool guy to her party. I hope she’s not disappointed tomorrow when it’s a mostly family party, thanks to the ever-changing response to the coronavirus. 

Rachel has told people she’s “this many” and holds up one hand with all five fingers up. She acts like she doesn’t know that’s five, but then she will see a 5 in a book or on a sign and say that’s how old she will be on her birthday. 
She has a million questions for anyone who will listen. Just the past few days: She’s asked the Kroger bagger how the virus started. I’ve explained extended family relationships several times. Her question about the purpose of a belly button led to a brief adoption conversation. 

Obviously, she’s the possibly the most extroverted person in our family, only maybe behind her dad. So join me as I continue celebrating my girl with my traditional birthday letter:

Rachel,

You’re the joy our family didn’t know we needed. We wanted you before we knew about you, cared for your birth mom in every way we could while she carried you, and know joy more because of you. You make life more fun, bedtime longer than it needs to be, and any ordinary day like a party.

You love all things pink, so much so you convinced your parents and sister to paint your room pink this past spring. Nobody knew it would take four coats of bright pink to cover the mint green. You remember so many words to songs, especially from the first Frozen movie but also from whatever is on the radio. You socialize while playing soccer, going to preschool at the big kids’ school, and wherever else we go. 

You love chocolate milk, jumping on the trampoline, princesses, mermaids, unicorns, and your brother and sister. For a couple of years now, you’ve proclaimed you’re going to marry our family friend Isaac, although he’s quite unsure of the future plan. Regardless of what happens with him, I have no doubt everyone you meet will be better off because you love well and fully. 

We love to celebrate you — especially when you are one-full-hand years old. 

Love, Momma

*****

Read other letters to my girl as she’s growing up: One. Two. Three. Four.

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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. 

#84daysofsummer #poolpeople #momlife #momconfessions #faithlife #livingfaithfully #favoritethings #choosingJOY #countryliving #reallife #PorchStories
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. 

#familyreunion #lakelife #kentuckylake #kylake #getoutside #familytime #memorialday #memorialdayweekend #favoritethings #84daysofsummer #summerisbest #choosingJOY
Hello, #84daysofsummer! ☀️ #TeamTaylor #girl Hello, #84daysofsummer! ☀️ 

#TeamTaylor #girlmom #boymom #momlife #reallife #summerisbest #siblinglove #countryliving #poolpeople #getoutside
First of all, who else has read this book? The plo First of all, who else has read this book? The plot was promising as a thriller and the setting really worked. There were some good twists, and then there were ridiculous twists. I skimmed the end only because I wanted it to make sense. And it didn’t. It was too weird for me. 

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. 

#KHTreads #bookstagram #booklover #donotrecommend #bookofthemonth @bookofthemonth
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. 

#weekending #TeamTaylor #poolpeople #countryliving #favoritethings #choosingJOY #maydays
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. 

#soccermom #weekending #springtime #momlife #girlmom #boymom
On Mothers Day, I wanted to sit by the pool with a On Mothers Day, I wanted to sit by the pool with a book, but I didn’t know what I wanted to read. Whenever I have indecision about books, picking up a thriller usually helps because of the story’s pace. 

“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. 

#KHTreads #bookstagram #booklover #latergram #bookofthemonth @bookofthemonth #poolpeople #mothersday
Y’all we are very ready for summer. ☀️ And Y’all we are very ready for summer. ☀️ 

And when I say summer, I mean we are ready to shake up the routine, mentally regroup, turn off the alarms, establish some new habits, soak in the sun, and catch up with friends we’ve been crossing paths with too quickly. 

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 

#momlife #reallife #momconfessions #livingfaithfully #summerisbest #teenagedriver #choosingJOY
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