Update

Exciting news-- baby #8 is a boy!! That gives us 6 boys in a row!! I think they will have a ball growing up together. I'm glad I had my sweet girls first and together. I'm glad they have each other. Our new house is coming along. It has been mostly framed so the next thing will be the roof, windows and doors, then they'll start on the plumbing and electrical. It is turning out even better than I anticipated. We have a great view of the lake and the mountains. It is so pretty, expecially now with the snow covered mountains reflecting in the lake. We just can't wait to be down there. I like the way the entryway is turning out- i was a little worried it would be boxy but it's plenty big and nice and open. I also really like the size of windows, and my laundry room will be plenty big. We also have a nice big yard that I am having fun designing it for the future. Just 8 weeks left to go. We are really getting tired of being in the car so much. We can't wait for my husband to have a shorter and safer commute as well.

I'm feeling better with this pregnancy. I'm feeling big, but I have my energy mostly back and I've started exercising again which feels so good and helps me feel like my own person. I'm sure I'm big too because I got so stretched out with the twins last time and this is my 7th full term pregnancy after all. But just having one baby this time doesn't seem like such a big deal after those twins. Plus he'll be born in the summer instead of the winter or fall so that will be nice and we'll be in a house that works better for the number of people we have living here and we'll be able to park in the garage. I remember the days I used to leave the sleeping the babies in the car in the garage after we'd get home from running errands and such. It will be nice to have that option again. Now if we can just keep going until then!!

I'm working on the regular stuff -- housework, laundry, organizing, cooking-- it is such a big job. I'm learning to delegate better. It is a process though. Life is busy but good. We spent a couple hours at the park today-- it was so nice out!

Baby #8 is already making his/ her mark in the World

I think each child I have had has taught me something. Having so many children has forced me to learn how to clean efficiently and organize my home-- I don't think I ever would have gotten around to it with only 3 children. I'm still not very clean, but I'm much better than I would have been without being responsible for so many. I've also learned to put my children first and read to them at night even though I'm tired, and make sure I am available to help them with whatever school work they need help with, and just take care of them and make sure they are doing what they are supposed to do. It has taken a lot of time and attention to figure out how to get it all to work. I'm far from perfect, but I'm much further along that road because of my children.

Even with 5 kids, I was handling my life fine-- I had time to learn how to play the guitar, time to read and time to learn all sorts of cooking and food prep. Enter the twins-- I went from 5 kids to 7 and it was rough. I am jut 5'2" tall, so the pregnancy was very heavy for me. By the end I could hardly walk and I struggled to finish the dishes by sitting on a stool, I also sat on a stool to cook. The pregnancy was hard from the beginning-- I was twice as sick the first trimester and twice as big the 3rd, the 2nd was O.K. I was too tired to do anything besides take care of my 5 children and my pregnant self. Once the babies were born I literally could do nothing except take care of those babies, pull meals together and read to the kids or help them with their schoolwork while I nursed those twins. There wasn't enough time to clean, our house was really, really messy. The kids would have helped, but it was so out of control that they just couldn't because they wouldn't know where to start. I did have meals brought in at first and my mom helped with laundry, but wow-- the whole year is kind of a blur. I loved those babies and enjoyed them, but there was no time for book clubs or playing the guitar. We barely made it to our homeschool group once a week. School was O.K. because I could do that while I nursed, but that is about all I did. I don't even remember much about Christmas because I think it was still a blur. Once those babies turned 1, my life started to ease up. I was ready to join back into life and social events as I am a very social person.

That was a rude awakening. My 3 best friends had moved during that year and 3 others the year before. The couple of friends who were left who I had done things with when my older kids were young no longer had babies. They were entering the phase of motherhood where the youngest child goes off to school and they suddenly have some newfound freedom and opportunities. I felt like everybody left me behind, and I think they did. It was time for me to grow further and it was time for our family to move to a better environment closer to my husband's work. That didn't turn out to be very easy, and only after it got really hard for not just me, but for the kids, we knew we had to force the move and just do it. We are in the process now- still haven't moved, but we are feeling much better because we are building a great house in a great neighborhood and area for our family. Things I've learned and experience I've gained from these experiences are really due to those twins.

I read that only about 0.5% of women nowadays have 7 children or more. In Utah, there are a good number of families with 4 and 5 kids, 6 is less common but accepted as normal, and very few families have 7 or more children. So I think I was considered "normal" with my 7 because the last 2 were twins and that is "acceptable". Those twins are so cute and so sweet. They are worth every pain I endured. With a promotion at work and a new house being built with plenty of room and a feeling of someone missing, we decided to have another baby. I am no longer considered "normal" even though it is just one more kid than my 7. Some people are having a hard time accepting it. I find myself growing again, going against the culture and defending my freedom of choice and being fine with staying away from negative people and just doing what I think is best regardless of what others say or think.

So far baby #8 has already changed my life forever. I am officially "unusual" now and officially in the BIG family club. I do have a very nice big family group I'm a part of and those ladies are wonderful and very encouraging. I have some good friends with varying sizes of families who are supportive of me and that make me feel good.

I read a quote by Joseph Smith the other day that perfectly describes how I feel about this:

When persons manifest the least kindness and love to me, O what power it has over my mind, while the opposite course has a tendency to harrow up all the harsh feelings and depress the human mind.

( this is from Daughters in My Kingdom page 23)

I had no idea there was even so much to learn and do in this life. Thank you baby #8, I am already a better person because of you. Thank you to my husband for always being there for me-- at least we have each other!! Thank you to all my sweet and good children for putting up with me and loving me despite my weaknesses. Thank you to all the people who have shown love to me even though they may not understand me or even know me or have met me in person. Thank you to anyone who has been kind to me and smiled despite the throng of children usually following me around. Thank you for being nice. Going against the grain is not an easy thing to do-- there are plenty who mock and don't even try to understand. Thank you to you for being a true friend.

p.s., the morning sickness is finally starting to subside, I exercised for the first time today in about 6 weeks-- it felt sooooooo good-- I should be pretty much back to normal in a week or 2 so I'm sure I'll be back on here posting updates-- the past few weeks have been rather boring with me laying down and resting every time the twins go to bed. Fortunately my kids watch so little TV that they actually guiltily like it when I'm sick because then they pretty much get to watch as much TV as they want. My husband was sick last week too so they had a couple days of marathon Curios George shows on Netflix. They're hoping to watch a lot of Kipper too, but I'm starting to feel better and I made them all do aerobics and yoga with me today. They'll thank me later!!

toddlers

#6 hit his older brother,#3, with a wooden spoon. It made his brother laugh, and it was fun to do, so he tried it on #5 who did not laugh, but cried. Then little #6 was reprimanded by me, his mommy, and the combo of #5 crying and mommy's reprimanding made #6 cry too. He's sorry and he'll try not to do it again!

#7 learned where his nose is. He pointed to his toes once, but now he runs around and points to everyone's noses saying, "no, no, no".

They both love to be chased. They run away a lot and laugh and laugh. They also understand a lot and will try to help as much as they can. They bring me all sorts of things from the cupboard. They'll put things in the cupboard too. They'll also put things on the counters and table and they like to decorate the walls with marker. They will also help me find whoever I'm looking for. This really is a fun age.

Transition-- STIIIIIIIIIIIILLLLLLLLLL............

Today was a little rough. As I've mentioned before we have been driving an hour each way to church each Sunday. We have to leave by 8 a.m. to get there on time. We didn't get up until 7:30 am last week, so this week we made sure to get everybody bathed Sat. night, but I forgot about gathering all their clothes. It didn't actually take that long to find them all, but it was just more than I could bear. I'm just running out of steam. We were very late again this week. It would be easier if we knew that we would get the lot we want and build the house we want on it to be in that ward and that neighborhood. I hate this uncertainty. I broke down and cried on the way there and held back tears when everybody was so friendly to me and wanted to know about us.

It's nice but it's hard to be so uncertain. I can't really tell them anything yet. It is a great ward, and they have all been really nice to us, but we aren't really a part of them yet. We can't move our records until we get our lot, and the builder/owner is being the same way with our new builder that they were with us- not returning calls, not making appts., etc. so it is moving way too slow-- it has now been 2 weeks since we signed with them and now it's Thanksgiving so we probably still won't hear from them this week. Day after day we wait, day after day, there's nothing new to report. Meanwhile, it's getting colder and snowier and later in the year. Plus the new ward isn't perfect. I'm very sensitive to picking out people's tendencies to be cliquish and mean and this ward does have a few of those. So it's hard to go, but I always leave feeling very thankful and glad that we did go (we did skip nursery and sunbeams though- the twins and the 4 yr old won't go to their classes without us-- we just drove around and talked/complained).

The other kids are very happy there. They all have friends. They all feel included and supported. I think the people are genuinely caring and kind overall, so we will continue going for the kids. It makes it worth it. I can hang on and keep going for them. I will just have to step up to the next level of organization again. I would never be well organized without all these cute kids. They have made me better than I every though possible and I guess there's still plenty of room for growth.

I do hope we will have something more definite soon. I hope we get that lot so that they can finally start the process of getting the permit and getting started on the house. Life is really tough sometimes. It's hard to fit everything in with all this driving. I think my cleaning time has suffered the most. I just have to make the kids follow through on their chores better. I think our new house will work out, but this is definitely the roughest transition we've ever had to make. Patience, faith, ENDURANCE. I will really try harder to not murmur.

Falling out of bed

We took the sides off the cribs yesterday because #7 is usually in #6's bed in the morning and I don't want him to get hurt climbing from crib to crib and the side of his crib kind of broke. So anyway, #6 fell out of his bed about 4 times last night, but went right back to sleep each time. #7 only fell out once mostly because his bed is partially blocked by the other one. It's hard growing up!

Funny and Cute Kid Things

My twins are almost 21 months. Their first words: #6 "uh-uh", "eis", #7 "uh-oh", "bal"

#7 has been crawling out of his crib and I have found him in his brother's crib a couple times- time to take the sides off I'm afraid. He also likes to twirl and get dizzy and fall down. They both understand so much and look for their shoes when it's time to go bye-bye. #6 will say "bye" after people have already left. They both fold their arms for family prayer and blessings on the food. They are way cute.

#5 prays to watch Thomas the Train and Team GeoTrax every night and every time he prays which he likes to do a lot. He is also incredibly stubborn and if he doesn't want to do something like move out of the way so somebody else can walk past him, he won't do it which usually ends him up in his room on time out 'til he's ready to be happy and nice. He has been following behind his soccer team in the back I think because he sees no reason to exert himself further than that. He can play for hours by himself though and he's very sweet and likes to make the twins laugh and watches out for them. They are starting to follow him around and I think he likes having a little entourage.

#4 won't read any words that have any reference to girls like "she", "her", "mermaid", "girl", "dress", etc. when I'm reading with him. He just skips those words and keeps reading.

#3 throws amazing tantrums when he thinks his math is too long and hard. Once he gets into it, he moves through great. I always point out to him how easy it actually was, and hopefully we'll get over this hump. He really has a lot of common sense and is very good to watch out for his brothers when he's not poking them.

#2 definitely has personality. As a baby just walking she would hop down the halls at church and say "ribbit". Up until last year, she was horse most of the time galloping around the house on hands and feet. Unfortunately she would often hurt somebody in her way- she' is getting better and watching out for people. She is also very dramatic and everyone knows when she has the tiniest little bump or hurt spot, but when she crashed on her scooter a few weeks ago and got some major scrapes, she hardly cried.

#1 is very mature and doesn't often do the funny stuff, although she had her share of it when she was younger. She does have her funny moments and I'm glad we can all laugh at ourselves!!

Protect your children against pornography

This is a great article and reminder on the fact that we must educate our children against the seemingly unending evil in the world of today. I read it last night and talked to my kids about it today and then we listened to the Safety Kids #3 by Janeen Brady about protecting our minds. The Safety Kids do an excellent job of explaining the dangers without scaring the kids or telling them more than they need to know.

So anyway, here's the blog post from Diane Hopkins on her blog