The Royal Wedding

"True love stories never have endings."

I really didn't have any desire to watch the wedding of Prince William and (now Princess) Kate. Kate seems very sweet and she is absolutely beautiful, but I just didn't feel the need to watch it.

Then I turned on the tv with my 8 year old daughter sitting next to me.

She asked me what was going on. I explained to her that it was a wedding of a real prince and princess. Rachel's little brown eyes got huge and she got very excited at the thought that this girl was about to be a real live princess. Well, that got me a little excited.

On the corner of the screen was a "countdown to the kiss" clock. I told Rachel we had 12 minutes until the couple came out as prince and princess and they were going to kiss. Rachel yelled to her brother, Noah what was going on. They both hurried up to grab something for breakfast - they chose croissants. They asked me to tell them when there were 2 minutes left.

Then the time came. Sarah and Jacob had joined us on the couch and we all watched the new couple walk out and kiss.

(Leah was still asleep so I recorded it for her.)

I'll admit - It was an amazing moment.
Soon after, Rachel was getting her shoes on for school and saying "Princess Rachel. Princess Rachel. I think Princess Kate sounds prettier, but maybe princess Rachel sounds nice too."

I'm glad I watched it with our children - especially Rachel.

Through her eyes I found the "magic" of the moment.

My Boys

"Don't just raise good boys, raise good men."

So this morning I was filling out forms online for our 3 oldest sons to go to Tourette Syndrome Camp this Summer. Jakey came up to me and started patting his tushy. I asked him, "Do you need a diaper?" And he said "Da," with a head nod. (Jakey doesn't really talk yet.) I told him just a moment while I finished up the page I was on.

Next thing I knew, Jacob was standing next to me with his pants and diaper off peeing on the floor. Nice.

I wasn't sure how to react at first. I didn't want to get mad because we have a 3 1/2 yr old daughter who refuses to use the potty and here I just might have a 1 1/2 yr old who is ready. So I gently took his hand and walked him to our bathroom to show him the potty seat. I don't know if he understood, but I know for a fact he is a very smart little boy who does understand more than we think. Ok, so he still eats crayons and bites the erasers off pencils, but if I ask for something, he is usually the first to respond.

For instance, when I ask if someone can feed our dog - you see this little blur of a boy running through the kitchen to get to the dog's food dish first. He loves to feed our pets. And if I ask if anyone has seen a cup or a certain shoe or the tv remote - Jakey is the first to run and get it or point it out.

The other day he found an old baby bottle. He took off the top, ran to the refrigerator, filled the bottle up with water, put the top back on, then went to "feed" it to his sister's doll. Very observant little boy.

Now if I could just get our older sons to want to pitch in.

You know how they sometimes make men wear "pregnant bellies" to see how hard it is for women to move around when they're pregnant? I think they should make them for children too. I would like my older children to see how hard it is for me to bend down to pick up toys, shoes, dirty clothes and towels.

They do help with our younger children and they do offer to make me tea when they see I am having a "moment." Maybe it's the nesting phase and I am focusing more on what our home looks like right now. We don't have a lot of time left to prepare for a little one again.

Still amazing every time I feel this one move around.

Amazing that we are so blessed.

Noah's quote for this week.

Noah was telling me how there was a little girl bossing him around and he didn't like it.

I said "Noah, you do know that girls are the bosses of boys."

He looked at me and said

"No! Girls are not the bosses of boys!" Pause. "Not until they get married."

I am raising a good man :o)

Hmmm...

"A parent's love is whole no matter how many times divided."

Little Baby 8 needs to be patient.

Last night was a little scary.

Tom left to go to the gym and I was at home with our 7 children.

Braxton Hicks are not new to this pregnancy, but suddenly they were coming one after another. Lots of pressure and I wasn't sure what to do.

Thankfully it was close to bed time, so my oldest 2 helped our younger ones get ready for bed and then tucked them in for me. I took our youngest to my bed along with a big glass of water. I read that if you think you're having premature contractions you should lay on your left side and drink lots of water. So that is what I did - I also prayed a lot and texted my hubby.

The contractions kept coming, but didn't get any stronger.

When Tom came home he rubbed my back until I fell asleep. He figured if I could fall asleep, the contractions went away. Which thankfully, they did. I am only 33 weeks tomorrow. Sarah was born at 33 1/2 weeks. She was ok, but it was scary and I'd rather not visit our baby in the NICU again. Visiting a newborn at the hospital and taking care of 5 other children at home was tough. I can't imagine having to do it again with 7 at home.

But I will listen to my body and make sure our baby is moving

as he/she should be.

Tom tells me that he believes that Sarah is with us because I listened and paid attention. When I felt something was wrong, I knew to go in and have our baby checked out. I promised Tom I wouldn't hesitate or second-guess myself this time either.

I think I'm pretty good at knowing what is going on and listening to the "whispers" in my head.

(Make time for the quiet moments as God whispers and the world is loud. - One of my favorite sayings.) 

Even with Jacob, I wasn't even "late" when I took a home test. I just felt like something was "different." I was going to have surgery in 2 days, so I decided to make sure that I was able to have surgery. Nope.

Today I have been drinking a lot of water and taking it easy.

Our house will have to wait for my attention - and it will.

The mess, the laundry, the clutter sits there very patiently for me.

Happy Easter

"Do not abandon yourselves to despair. We are the Easter people and Hallelujah is our song."

Happy Easter!

May your day be beautiful and blessed with friends and family.

On Friday night we went to our church for Shadow Stations of the Cross. The Youth group does it and they do a great job. We all went. Ethan was in the choir.

Saturday morning we had our annual Easter Egg Hunt in the cul de sac. Hundreds of eggs gone within a few minutes. All the kids have such a great time - lots of fun! And the weather cooperated enough that we were able to hang out and eat breakfast together as friends & neighbors. It's nice to see everyone after "hibernating" during the Winter.

Then Tom cleaned out our garage and we loaded up our van with donations. We took a van load to our local Goodwill.

Easter Sunday.

Our day started out a little early, but once again our boys knew to wake us with kindness. Rolling over and finding a cup of fresh coffee is a nice way to greet a new day.

Then the girlies arrived in our room. They were there to beg us to come downstairs. They didn't want anyone to go through their basket until mommy and daddy had seen the "display" and letter the Easter Bunny had left. Sweet.

Then I saw the boys' bedroom door swing open and heard "Momma?"

Jakey can reach the door from his crib.

I got out of bed and was blessed with a grinning little boy - very happy to see me. I picked him up and we went downstairs. I found my camera so I could capture the excitement of it all.

After one piece of candy each, we had breakfast with Tommy and then started the craziness of getting everyone bathed and dressed.

It wouldn't be so "crazy" except that we usually wait so long before getting ready. Today our boys wanted me to play video games with them - I couldn't resist. How often do older boys want their mommies to play video games with them.

Our girls were excited to put on pretty Spring dresses. They looked beautiful and our boys were very handsome as we got into our 2 cars to go to church.

Tom left first so he could get Ethan there on time for choir. We live right by our church, but there was so much traffic. The good thing was that half the traffic was going to church and half was leaving. So even though it took longer to get into the parking lot, I got a great parking space :o)

Mass was beautiful. The children's choir sounded wonderful.

When we got home we took a few family pictures outside, then went in

for a little lunch before making the ham and sides for dinner.

I unfortunately had woken up with one of my headaches, so I tried to take it easy. Jakey was very tired so I took him up to my bed. We laid down and cuddled together, falling asleep. Jakey is like a teddy bear. He loves to hug and snuggle. (He just started really giving great hugs - the kind where their little arms just wrap around your neck. He really is the sweetest baby I know.)

Anyways, we slept for about 2 hours while Tom let our older children play outside. He played basketball with our boys and our girls drew with chalk. Turned out to be a very nice day outside.

When Jakey and I got up, we went downstairs to find my wonderful husband with dinner almost completely prepared. I love that Tom loves to cook, because I really do not.

We had a very nice dinner together as a family.

And Baby 8 was rolling around a lot this evening. Guess he/she really enjoyed dinner too.

It was a beautiful blessed day.

Easter Sunday

Can't Sleep

"People who say they sleep like a baby usually don't have one."

Oh my goodness. I can not sleep!

Everyone else can because none of them are being kept awake by our baby...yet.

I am being kicked and nudged. I feel like our baby is going to bust right through my stomach. He or she is very wide awake.

Might have been the ice cream cone I just ate :o)

Our son Noah was going to bed tonight and walked by a pile of dolls our daughters left out.

He looked at me and said "Mom, do dolls ever freak you out?" I replied "Only when they sing to me."

Noah looked at me then smiled and laughed. He's fun.

He went back to school today after being home for 2 days with a stomach virus. He is only in 3rd grade. He has a ton of make-up homework! Poor guy.

We were up until 9:30 doing it. His teacher will allow for some of it to be turned in on Monday, but it is Easter. Would rather we spent the weekend celebrating God and family.

Noah has a few pages left. Hopefully he'll get it done tomorrow night.

We have Rachel's IEP meeting tomorrow morning. Maybe that's another reason I can't sleep. She is doing very well so they're thinking about dropping her IEP. I have mixed feelings. I love that she is doing well, but I also love that she gets the extra help I feel she needs. And I honestly do worry that she might end up having Tourettes and/or OCD. And we've learned from experience that it is very difficult to get an IEP back once you let it go.

I plan to go to the meeting with an open mind and a lot of questions.

Tom is going to do his best to be there too. This isn't a decision I want to make without him.

Well, baby has settled down. I should too.

I can't believe I only have 8 weeks left. Amazing how quickly it really goes.

Sarah is getting pretty excited. She keeps asking me if I'm going to go get our baby out soon.

Jakey puts his little hand on my stomach when I ask him where our baby is.

And Leah - in front of a bunch of strangers while we were out shopping - asked me how our baby got in my belly.

I just smiled and told her that God put our baby in my belly.

That was a good enough answer for a 5 year old.

Tummy Bug

"The Family. We were a strange little band of characters trudging through life sharing diseases and toothpaste, coveting one another's desserts, hiding shampoo, borrowing money, locking each other out of our rooms, inflicting pain and kissing to heal in in the same instant, loving, laughing, defending and trying to figure out the common thread that bound us all together."

The Tummy-Bug has hit our home.

And can I just say - a child getting sick while climbing out of the top bunk is probably the toughest thing to clean. Ugh. At 10:30 pm Tom and I got a knock on our door from our son Noah. He was crying and saying he threw up. We got up. I went to take care of Noah in the bathroom while Tom went to get the sheets off his bed...Suddenly, Tom did not sound very thrilled.

Little did we know that our sweet son tried to get to the bathroom before getting sick on his bed. Poor guy - and poor mom and dad.

We had to get a screwdriver to take part of the bunks apart just to clean it up. And of course the drawer under the bunkbed was left open too. Top bunk, bottom bunk, drawer, ladder, carpet, sheets, stuffed animals,....

Thankfully, Jakey slept through it all. He was in his crib next to the bunkbed. But the other 2 boys got up and slept somewhere else. Turned out our oldest wasn't feeling well too.

After that huge mess we peeked in on our girlies. All 3 were sleeping in the same bed together in their room. One of the top bunks.

I climbed up and handed each girl to Tom. We decided to put them all together, comfortably on their floor - just in case.

So now a few more are feeling a little "not right" in the tummy. Poor Jakey has it, along with a fever. Not sure where the fever came from. He is very "mommy" right now and resting a lot. Keeping him hydrated with juicey and popsicles.

Last night was Eucharistic Adoration.

I went for the last 20 minutes and Benediction. I didn't want to leave Jakey until Tommy got home.

It was a nice half hour for me. I said lots of prayers for our children and this pregnancy. It's getting a little harder to walk around. I'm waiting for that "nesting" phase to start. My house could definitely use it! I'm trying to figure out if life is easier now while pregnant - or if it will be easier once our baby is born and I don't have this pregnant body.

And it never fails...when we are doing the Benediction, there are 4 lines that we repeat that are about Mother Mary. Everytime, I tell myself I am going to get through those lines without crying. I can't.

The weather was beautiful a few days ago and now it is freezing again.

I had all the outdoor-winter clothing washed and ready to be put away.

Now the coats are out again.

I did go buy a few summer dresses for our oldest daughter this weekend.
The day before, Tom and I took all 3 girls to the mall to buy Rachel's 1st Communion veil and shoes. At one store, the ladies that were working there were loving watching our 3 girls look through all the dresses and accessories. One lady made a comment about how we sure have our hands full. Then I said - especially when we have our 4 boys with us too. Gotta love how the eyes come popping out in surprise :o) But they were sweet. They asked about our boys and about our baby we're expecting. We told them we would definitely come back to look for a Christening dress or suit in a couple of months.
When we were done at that store, we made the "mistake" of walking to another store. We came across a shoe sale. Our girls were loving it! We agreed to buy them some church shoes to wear with their dresses this summer.

They bought matching shoes - but different colors. So cute.

A couple of weeks ago I bought their new swimsuits - all 3 bought the same suit. I love that they want to have the same as their sisters at this age.

Anyways, after buying shoes with all 3 - I decided to go buy the dresses alone. That was the only way I would stick to the amount I wanted to spend. And stick to buying them only for Rachel. Her sisters get her hand-me-down dresses. They don't mind, but Rachel gets sad to see her dresses too small for her now. It was nice to surprise her with a few new ones. She was very happy and grateful, which makes it all worth it.

10 Weeks To Go

"Happiness held is the seed. Happiness shared is the flower."

Baby is doing well.

I am doing ok. I have some things to whine about.

Seems a little unfair - I am back to having "morning sickness." I am guessing it's because of all the heartburn and the fact that there is a little boy or girl rolling around near my tummy.

The sciatic pain makes it hard to walk at times and walking up the stairs is like climbing a mountain. Yesterday I had to take a couple of minutes to catch my breath before I could speak to my husband.

I am finding it very hard to stay awake all day. By the afternoon I am drifting a little on the couch. Thankfully my little ones nap.

Nighttime is a different story. It's hard to get comfortable. Growing belly, heartburn, and having to use the bathroom constantly makes it hard to sleep. I guess this is just my body getting me used to having a newborn soon. Have to get used to getting up every couple of hours.

One of my wish-list items is a new rocking chair. I think I found the perfect one. Beautiful looking and comfy enough to sleep in. But I think with the last 3 children we looked at rocking chairs and we always decided it just wasn't something we should spend money on - mainly because we kept thinking we were having our last child :o) This time we might just have to do it.

Jacob is really into cars right now. I even went into the basement and dug up some Hot Wheels and a ramp that we bought for Brandon, Ethan, and Noah. Now I am very glad that I kept a bunch of the boys' toys. Some of the best baby items and boy toys we have are things we bought Brandon when he was born & when he was a toddler.

My Brandon is back on his medication for his Tourette Syndrome tics. I pray it works quickly so he can get back off - only because I know he doesn't like being on it. The tic he has right now is bothering him enough that he felt the need to take his pills. I think it might have been the stress of the quarter ending at school. He is working hard to get and keep his grades up. Very proud of him.

Also very proud of my Ethan. His first year in Jr. High and he has made High Honor Roll each quarter.

All of our children are doing well. I am very proud to be their mother. They have been getting along so well lately - and I am convinced that Jakey is the most blessed little boy. His brothers and sisters take such special care of him. He can do no wrong and is never lonely. They adore him. He is very loved and he loves everyone too. He loves to give hugs, kisses, and "knuckles."

He still doesn't want to talk. He seems to understand what we say to him.

He will nod his head for yes or shake it for no. 

And when he says "Huh?" it is so cute.

That is how he responds to almost everything.

You call "Jakey?" And you'll hear "Huh?" from the toy room.

I will miss that someday.

And I know that I feel a bit miserable right now, but I am treasuring every moment too. Tom says I forget all the negatives with pregnancy anyways.

I know the next 10 weeks will go by quickly.

Perfect Day

"Oh it's such a perfect day. I'm glad I spent it with you."

We had a wonderful weekend.

On Friday we made cupcakes for our church bake sale. We are raising money for our son to go on a Mission Trip this summer. He is very excited - I am already a little nervous. But I know it will be good.

That night Tom and I took all 7 to the indoor swimming pool. Lots of fun. It's nice to watch our children get along and play well together. Brandon was great with Jacob. He kept taking him down the little slide in the kiddie pool. Tom was giving Leah swimming lessons and having fun playing around with our boys. I am usually taking our children to the pool alone, but we finally decided to sign Tom back up at the gym. I will have to put my membership on hold soon, so we wanted to make sure that one of us could keep taking our children there for Family Hours.

That night we left notes on the refrigerator and cupboard telling our children to not eat breakfast (and to please bring us coffee.)

Saturday morning we were greeted with 2 cups of coffee and very curious children. We surprised them with breakfast at a restaurant. We don't do that often, so it was a huge treat. We had a nice time.

That afternoon Tom and I went to our hospital for a Maternity Floor tour. Wow! It looks beautiful. When we had Jakey, they were just starting to redo it. We joked that we would have to have another baby just to see how it all turned out.

 Well...Ha Ha.

That night we went to mass then just hung out as a family at home. We watched a movie and Tom made us all shakes and malts. Yum! No wonder I put on 10 pounds last month.

Brandon had asked about going to the zoo. The weather didn't look very cooperative for Sunday, but we said we'd think about it.

Sunday morning Brandon woke us up with coffee and asking about the zoo.

We looked online and didn't see much rain.

So we decided to go. We quickly got everyone ready and packed up our van.

When we first got there it was a little chilly. The good thing was that the weather and threats of thundershowers kept the crowds away. We started out at the Monkey House and by the time we came out, it was beautiful outside.

What a perfect day!

No rain, no crowds. It was mostly cloudy with temperatures in the upper 70's.

The animals were out and being active.
We got to see the new 10 Wild Dog puppies. 

Our girls were so excited when a peacock walked by us during lunch.

Everyone got to pick out a "collectible" smashed penny or a "fancy" rock to buy.

We also picked out a little stuffed tiger for our newest family member.

On our way out Tom and I kept saying how perfect the day was and how responsible Brandon had been. He kept helping me with the bag and/or stroller and helped keep an eye on his younger brothers and sisters.

We decided to stop by my favorite pizza place on our way home for dinner.

(With a few pitchers of water!)

Everyone was well-behaved.

Maybe they were just tired and thankful for more food, but it made dinner enjoyable.

There was a big group of "older" people near us. On their way out, Jakey waved to all of them. They were smiling and waving back to him.

2 ladies stopped to say hi to our children and complimented them all for their wonderful behavior in the restaurant and said what a beautiful family we had. After they left, there were 2 gentleman sitting at another table and as they were leaving they asked Tom and I if we were the parents of all these children and also commented on how well-behaved they were.
We heard more of the same from our waitress.

I love hearing this - but even more, I love when our children hear this from others.

When we got home, I quickly bathed our 4 youngest - then we got them ready for bed, said prayers, and tucked everyone in.

Tomorrow is their first day back to school. Spring Break is done.

As Tom and I got into bed, we heard the thunderstorm arrive.

We smiled at each other and were thankful that God had held the storm back.

Perfect Day.