Noah is 9

"You don't choose your family. They are God's gift to you as you are to them."

Happy Birthday to our son Noah Stephen (aka Snowman.) Big 9 year old today! We started the day with blueberry muffins. Noah had a candle in his and we all sang to him. For lunch, me, Tom, Jacob, Sarah, and Leah went to Noah's school and had lunch with him. We brought McD's. I am glad that Noah is not too old for this yet. When he saw me he gave me a huge smile and hug. And I love going to my children's schools and hearing "Hello Mrs. Sherman" from other children that know me.

Noah is a wonderful little boy. He is the only one that gave me a "real" warning that he was ready to be born. Eight days before his due date, my water broke. I am thankful that I was at home when it happened. Noah was 6 lbs when he was born. Little peanut. And it is amazing to think that when he was 2 yrs old we put him in speech therapy because all he said was Momma, Dada, and Baby (for Rachel.) He will now talk to you non-stop. About everything! He has so much knowledge in his head. It's amazing. He is a lot of fun and is one of the sweetest people I know.

This morning Tom and I went to have the First Trimester Screening done. Our little one is growing just as he or she should be. Measurements were right on for our due date and the test looked good so far. We have to wait a week to get the bloodwork and have everything "calculated." I am still amazed at how perfect our baby looks at only 12 weeks old and 2 inches big. Baby was wiggling around a lot. I absolutely love seeing the little hands - all the little fingers. At one point, I put my left arm over my head to get more comfortable. Our baby did the exact same thing. Baby's left arm went up over his or her head. The technician made a comment about it and smiled.

So now I am up and trying to do laundry. I skipped a few days and now I am paying for it. I laughed at myself last week when I was doing laundry. After I was done filling and starting the washer, I patted it - like it was my buddy. I thought: Wow! Either I am going a little crazy, or I am spending too much time with my washing machine.

I am also going through boxes of clothes in our basement. I have decided it is time to let go of some stuff. Trying to be strict with myself. There are people who need clothes, and I have a ton just sitting in storage waiting to be used someday - maybe. I have at least a vanload of clothes to donate. I am also digging up coats and hats and gloves. It has gotten pretty cold here today. I am not  prepared for cold weather.

Tonight I am very thankful that we have a home and are not out in the cold. Our house might be a little small for all 9 of us (soon to be 10), but at least each of us has a warm, comfortable bed to sleep in.

Giving Thanks

"Fear knocked at the door. Faith answered. And lo, no one was there."

Thanksgiving Day. My mother-in-law came over for Thanksgiving dinner. We had a wonderful day. Food was yummy and our children were very well-behaved.

After eating, we decided it was time to share our news with our younger children. We gave Jacob a note to pass to Noah and Rachel. Rachel read it outloud.

It said: I am thankful for my little brother or sister.

It took a moment, but they quickly understood what the note meant - and thankfully we have it all on video. Noah's first words were: "Wait! What just happened?" It was priceless. So now everyone knows why mommy has been so tired and not feeling well. The girls are very excited!

Friday, Tom and I got up at 3:00am and got to our first store by 4:00am. We shopped all day. We got home around 5:30pm. We had a great time - got some terrific deals, but mostly got to spend time together.  

On Saturday, Tom and our 2 oldest took our 3 pets for their yearly check-up. Our cat, Moose has lost some weight. We were concerned. Well, yesterday I got a phone call from our vet. Moosey has diabetes. Ugh. I was upset, but I quickly reminded myself that lots of people hear this about their children - this is my kitty, not my child. Still, he has been a wonderful cat. Our children love him and he loves them. He is always cuddling with one of them. So this morning I learned how to give Moose insulin shots. I told my children to pray to St. Francis and we will see how Moosey does on the shots and new diet. Hopefully after awhile the diet will work and we can take him off insulin.

Oh, what we do for those we love.

Tonight we took our children to the movie Tangled. Very good. Everyone enjoyed it. (Brandon stayed home and babysat Jakey. Tom had taken the boys to Harry Potter on Sunday.) It was a nice "treat" for Noah's birthday. Tomorrow Noah Stephen turns 9!

And tomorrow Tom and I are going to our 1st Trimester Screening. I always get nervous before this test. I just want it over. I have to have hope and faith that our child is healthy. We are praying for all good news tomorrow.

Showing

"Blessed are those that can give without remembering and can receive without forgetting."

I guess it's about time to start telling. I can't "hide" my belly much longer.

Last Sunday I helped with Children's Liturgy. I had to go to the front of the church with all the little children. After mass, one of my friends came up to me and asked me if I was pregnant. I smiled and said "Why would you ask me that?" She said she could tell by the way I was standing up front at mass. Guess I had my hands on my belly. Thought I was helping to "cover up" that area, but instead I brought attention to it.

Last night our children were talking and our 7 yr old Rachel said to our 8 yr old Noah: Maybe Mom will have another baby. If it's a girl, we will have 4 boys and 4 girls. It would be even. And Noah replied: Rachel, Mom is not going to have another baby. Brandon and Ethan just smiled at me. (Our oldest 2 - they know.)

And then this morning, I was in the kitchen and Leah, 5 yrs old, told me that my tummy is really big! I said Thank you Leah. That is what every woman likes to hear.

Yep. I think the news has to come out on Thanksgiving. Maybe at dinner when we go around the table and say what we are thankful for.

10 Week Ultrasound

"God tells us to burden Him with whatever burdens us."

My husband came home and picked me up to go to our ultrasound. I was so happy he could make it home. I was nervous and I was full of water! Tom and I were talking about how this was a little too "familiar." When we were pregnant with our 3rd, we had a miscarriage. We found out for sure with an ultrasound at 10 weeks. After a week, my body still wouldn't let go and I had a D&C the day before Thanksgiving.

(Deep breath.)

We got to our doctor's office. Thankfully, we only had to wait a couple of minutes before the technician came and got us. While she asked a few questions, I was trying to say a quick Hail Mary and Our Father. Then we started the ultrasound. Wow! Did our baby grow! Such a huge relief. He/She measured 10 weeks 3 days and heart was beating in the 160's. The little hand was up by the face and the little legs were kicking. Amazing. We tried to get a nice profile picture. I honestly was having a hard time seeing what was what in the picture we got, but Tom and the tech could both see it fine. 

It is so beautiful to see the little life inside.

I have so much to be thankful for.

On our way home we stopped to pick up my wedding ring. It looks so shiny and new. They did a wonderful job. When they asked if we wanted to look at anything else, Tom asked about Mother's Rings. We told them I used to have stackable ones, but first of all the store we used to go to stopped making them and second, stackables didn't really work for me anymore. Then they asked how many children we have. I think this was the first time I had ever said to someone outloud we are expecting our 8th.

Now we're trying to decide when to tell everyone, especially our children. Our 2 oldest know, but not the other 5. And once our 8 year old, Noah, knows - everyone will know.

Doctor Visit

"A baby is God's opinion that the world should go on."

Little stinker kept quiet today. My doctor searched for our baby's heartbeat, but could not find it. I am trying to stay positive. Tomorrow I will go in for an ultrasound. In my heart, I know that I will see a beautiful little heart beating. I will update tomorrow when I get home.

This morning I woke up with a new idea for my Etsy store. I will have to work on that in my "spare" time. When I do, I will share the link.

I also had a great morning with my Bible Girls at Bible Study. We started a new book about being a wife and mother with grace. It was a good discussion.

Well, this evening has been a bit exhausting - both physically and emotionally. I am going to go get everyone ready for bed, including myself.

School Support

"The greatest good you can do for another is not just to share your riches, but to reveal to him his own."

This morning my husband and I went to our 8 yr old son's school for an IEP meeting. I am so thankful for the support he has at his school. Everyone was so wonderful at the meeting. We all agreed that Noah still needs some help at school, but now it is focused more on his "tic disorder" not his academic work. Noah is a very bright little boy who has a lot of energy and has some difficulty focusing on his work when he is having tics. I am so happy with how the meeting went. I know that he is surrounded by people who really care about him and want to see him succeed.

Tomorrow I go back to my OB to see if we can hear our baby's heartbeat. If not, I will go in for an ultrasound. I felt very sick and tired yesterday and took it as a good sign. I still made it to Eucharistic Adoration last night to spend some quiet time in prayer. I have to have faith that all will be ok.

I read on a "baby" site a post by a woman that really got me thinking. She wondered why a couple would continue to have babies when they were worried about being able to afford Christmas presents for the children they already had. I was surprised by that statement. Christmas should be about Jesus and family before it is about toys. She said something like - sorry kids we decided to have another child rather than getting you more gifts. Somehow, in her mind that made the couple heartless. I know presents are a big deal to children on Christmas morning, but I hope our children always understand the importance of life and family over any object. Hopefully they would choose their sibling over a new video game or Barbie :o)

For our family, Tom and I save a little out of each of his paychecks through the year and put it in a separate Christmas account. Then our children get 3 gifts each - the same number Jesus received when he was born.

When we were expecting Jacob, he was our "pickle gift" to our children. That is how we told them we were pregnant. And to this day, our children still talk about the best present they ever got on Christmas - the news that there was going to be another brother or sister.

I don't think I can wait until Christmas this time. This child might have to be our "What we're thankful for" news at Thanksgiving dinner.



My Diamond

"Count your blessings."

My prayers to St. Anthony were answered through my 1 yr old son Jacob. I was sitting on our couch this morning when Jacob crawled by me, reached under, and grabbed something. He sat up and was looking at something in his little hands. I thought he had found a piece of food, so I leaned down and took it from his fingers. It was my diamond! Amazing! I picked up Jakey and gave him a huge hug and told him Mommy is going to go buy him a new toy today. Yay!

Thank you St. Anthony for working through my son.

Appointment

"Hope is faith holding its hand out in the dark."

I went for my appointment yesterday. Doctor could not find our baby's heartbeat. I am trying not to worry. I will go back next week to see if we can hear it. If not, I will go in for an ultrasound. Jacob did this to me, so I am trying to stay positive. Plus, I am still feeling very tired and nauseous. I've never been so thankful for nausea.

Good thing about today: Went to the High Honor Roll breakfast at our son, Ethan's school this morning. It is wonderful that they do this for the students. Each student received a certificate and each parent received a "Proud Parent" cling-on for their car.

Bad thing about today: While sitting on the couch I noticed my diamond fell out of my Engagement/Wedding ring. Where do you even begin looking for something like that? I called the school to let them know. You never know. I once lost a sapphire earring that Tom gave me while we were dating. I called the stores at the mall where I had been trying on clothes that day. One store called me the next day. The cleaning crew found it right before they vacuumed it up. So who knows? Maybe my diamond will be found when the school is cleaned tonight. I am a bit nervous to vacuum my home. I will keep praying to St. Anthony to please help me find it.

My Birthday

"Standing up for what is right can be hard - especially if you stand alone."

I am officially "in my 40's" now.

For my birthday I got to mark one of my goals off. I drove downtown Chicago - and didn't really enjoy it, but made it. Our family went to the Science Museum. We have a family membership and hadn't used it yet because we would have to drive two cars for all of us to go and I wasn't ready to do that. Of course, that means paying for 2 cars to park too. That alone costs a bit of money. And I didn't notice, but our pass only allowed for 3 children. Huh? The lady let us in without buying more tickets, but told us we would have to get a hold of membership to change it. I did. They are sending us new cards. The day was good. Our children had fun and learned a few new things that day. They really enjoyed the submarine exhibit. And our son, Noah is like a little sponge for knowledge. He loves to learn about everything. He is always talking and asking questions. It is fun to go to museums with him.

Today I am going back to the doctor. They are going to listen for our baby's heartbeat. I am a little nervous. I think I am only around 9 weeks and so I know that it might be hard to hear the heartbeat. I went through this with my last child. I ended up going in for an ultrasound the same day because they couldn't hear the heartbeat. Thankfully, all was well. So now if I don't hear our baby's heartbeat today - I won't know if there is something "wrong" or if it's just too early.

It is still amazing to think that we will have another family member this summer.

Halloween

"God doesn't require us to succeed; He only requires that you try."

Halloween was a lot of fun at our home. We invited a few neighbors and family members over to celebrate Leah's 5th birthday - then fed everyone some healthy food before sending them out to collect all the candy. The weather was beautiful and our children had a lot of fun running around with their friends.

Yesterday was Eucharistic Adoration at our church. I love going to EA. I walk in there and as soon as I sit down in the dark and quiet church, I let it all out. That is one moment when I let go of all of my responsibilities. I just let myself be a child before our Father. Last night I sat and cried. My tears were not necessarily sad tears. They were just made up of everything I needed to hand over to God. My fears, my frustrations, my exhaustion. Taking care of a home with a husband and 7 children while being in my first trimester with our 8th child can feel a bit overwhelming. I felt much better after spending time praying and then singing during the Benediction. I came home feeling "rested" and renewed. I am very blessed. I have a warm, cozy home and a wonderful, loving, supportive family. I can do this.