Family Updates

It has been a few years and we have changed and grown a bit, so it's time for an update.

We now have seven children and they range from 11 to 2 years old. There are five sons and two daughters who bless each other with friendship and companionship. They learn from each other constantly and encourage each other as only siblings can. The oldest four often read to the younger three. They also teach them math through play and experience. They all play incredibly well together. Science is a passion for them all. We are constantly learning about creatures (animals), weather, and the natural world around us. They also have a good foundation for their animal knowledge due to having nearly 30 fowl on our small homestead.

As of this post, we have twenty-five chickens and four ducks. Of our chickens, four are roosters and twenty-one are laying hens. We've raised and butchered our own meat chickens, but it was a serious undertaking and they were rather stinky, so I'm not sure we'll do that again soon. It was an adventure and I am thankful for the experience. The kids also got to learn a lot through it as well. It is spring, and the ducks have been laying in a location I can't find, so we may well have ducklings in a few weeks.

We have finally found a church to attend and feel like we finally have planted roots and found friends. Our kids have also started investing in friendships and have blossomed as they have done so.

We are busy, but this season is such a blessing. We are all growing, learning, and changing. We no longer cloth diaper, but we do try to eat as "whole foods" as we can. We're working our way to a debt free lifestyle, but it is definitely a struggle at times.

Now, the answer to everyone's number question: we don't expect to have any more children, but only God knows if we will be blessed again or not.

Blogging Again?

With my life, one can never tell if I'll blog religiously or not. We now have seven children, four of whom are homeschooling. It is a busy season in life, but it is a wonderful season. I have been blogging at another blog, but I think it is time to give each a purpose and time to get things out there. I know that not very many people follow this blog, but maybe it will find someone who needs encouragements and hope for the hard days they're having. I am hoping to spend a few hours a week blogging. Maybe I can get a post up once a week? Who knows. But I will be updating here soon.

What season of life are you in? Are you busy or fairly relaxed? Are you enjoying babies, toddlers, elementary ages, middle schoolers, high schoolers? Or adult children and grandchildren? I'm looking forward to our future while we're in our season of toddlers, preschoolers, and elementary aged kids. Soon enough, we'll have a house full of teens and young adults who will be rushing off to work or church or friends...yes, this busy season is special.

May you feel blessed by the cuddles and wiping noses. May you see the blessing in the needy toddler and upset preschooler. I'm praying for you.

The New Normal

I have five children now. Life is the same as it was before my fifth baby's birth. The only real difference is that I have a baby strapped to me most of the day and I am co-sleeping again and nursing all the time. I nursed Ziva (21 months old) until she was 19 months old, so I nursed almost all of my pregnancy so nursing hasn't really changed. 

Rhett -  2 Days Old

The new normal is better than I could have ever imagined. My baby nurses like a champ, sleeps like a champ as well, and is well loved by all his family. His siblings fight over who gets to hold him and who gets to watch him while Mama runs to the restroom. I sit, watching my kids, all five,  and am completely blown away by God's grace and mercy. He has blessed me more than anyone in my life ever imagine and certainly more than I could have hoped. 

Ziva, the little Mama in our house

We haven't gotten back to homeschooling yet because we've had Grandma and Gran here back to back and nothing gets done when we have family visiting. It's okay. I'm not going to waste their time with family pushing reading and math because I'm told it's more important. We see them for a short time each year. We'll just push school into the summer. 

My cooking has...suffered. We are eating a lot of processed stuff mainly because I've gotten some sweet deals on it and I need the ease of it. Slowly but surely I am getting back to our natural, unprocessed way of life. The real kickoff for that is Thanksgiving. Nothing processed will be at our meal. I cannot wait! We have Gran visiting us (my mother-in-law) and there is a huge surprise in store as well! I am so excited! I hope to have my camera out so I can share photos with you when the surprise is revealed. Did I say I'm so excited?

Daddy playing ball with the boys while Mommy heals

My husband's career has also finally seen progress. He reports to his new unit soon and will finally know what's going on with potential deployments, promotion potential, and reenlistment. After 2 years of training and 3 years of waiting, we are seeing progress! I am praising the Lord for every great thing He has blessed us with. It doesn't seem like much to people in our lives, but it's important to us.

As far as post baby life for me, it's been great. I healed fast. I feel great. I felt great about a week after. I've pushed myself faster, further, and harder after this c-section. At the same time, if I hurt, I stopped. It's been so nice and such a blessing.

Our new normal is great. It's blessed by the Lord and I haven't been this content or happy with life ever.  My husband is seeing success at work, which is a blessing for everyone. The kids are being kids and are blessing me at every turn, even in their anger, exhaustion, and fighting. God is so good to me!

This Mothering Journey

I have been a mother for about 5.5 years. Sure, it doesn't sound like very long, but I've had four children in that time and am expecting our fifth in late October or early November. In those short years, I've gained a lot of mothering experience.



I've learned that there are just some times silly pictures have to be taken...ok, at our house, A LOT of times when they must be taken.

Some times, your daughter is just going to cry when you say no. It's okay, she'll learn and get over it. Other times, you will sit and cuddle her and tell her it's okay. There will always be someone who does it better, faster, more patiently, has a cleaner house, a better car/van, more kids, better behaved kids...the list goes on forever. 

One day you'll wake up and they're eighteen...or four.

The number one thing I've learned is that we are all at different points on our mothering journey. I have several friends with one or two children who are the same age as some of my kids (I'm not friends with anyone with more than two children). It's hard for them to imagine having more than what they have because they struggle so much with one or two. Many don't take me up on offers to help them because I have four and it must be so difficult.

Some times, it's worth letting her mop the drive in the rain

We are all at different points in mothering. At this point in my life, it isn't as hard as many think it is. In fact, I think this point is easier than it was when I had two. Yes, there is always something I could clean, a fight to break up, an owie to fix, a baby to nurse, a meal to fix, a basket of laundry, or something else to do, but that's how life is. It won't be like this for long so I'm going to love the busy-ness and loudness of it all.

Take heart, overwhelmed mother! While you feel overwhelmed, it is only a short time. It's okay to ask for help and take advantage when others offer. It's hard when you're in the trenches. It's hard when everyone is telling you how they parent or stare when you're three year old throws a tantrum in the store, but you are the parent and you are doing the best you can. It's okay to lock yourself in the bathroom for a few minute, if everyone is safe, or to go cry in your room. Your kids will be fine. 

That is me, sleeping, holding our youngest daughter when she was a couple weeks old.
After putting Keely to bed, we fell asleep on the living room furniture while Daddy was playing softball.
Overwhelmed? That doesn't even start to tell you what I was. :)

Common Family Questions

As the mother of 4, soon to be 5, children, in less than 6 years, I get some really interesting and rude comments and questions. Some still disturb me. Others make me giggle. After talking to other moms and my husband, I decided to share a little bit about how we handle the questions people ask and assumptions people make.

Asher helping Ziva play in the puddle

The most common is, "how many children are you guys going to have?" I get this question a lot. I mean, a lot...every time people see us out, a lot. My husband and I had struggled for some time with how to answer this question. After 4 years of being parents and leaving children up to the Lord, and two or three months of discussion, we have finally come up with an answer that we are comfortable telling people. Our answer is very simple, We are leaving that up to God. I am a diabetic and that answer doesn't sit well with many people, especially my family. I know that they are only concerned about my health, but it still is hard when your own family doesn't understand. We, as a couple and a family, have come to a place where we feel that the Lord deserves the chance to control our family size and we have chosen to accept His blessings cheerfully and lovingly. So, how many children are we going to have? We don't know, but we are open to as many as the Lord sees to bless us with. 

Boys Playing with Strollers While
Waiting for A Hockey Tourney to Start

Another one I started getting with our fourth child is, "you must be rich!" Ha! Ha! Sorry, I laugh only because we are far from rich. Some months we barely scrape by. Other months, we have lots of room in the budget. One of the first times I heard this was at a clinic for my oldest son's heart. The nurse asked how many kids I had, as I only have two with me. I told her four with one on the way and she stared at me for a second then assumed, out loud, that we must be rich. I laughed a little, and said, "Please, we are a family of 6 on a Specialist's pay. We are far from rich!" Since then, I have revised my answer. I've heard it several more times since then. Now, I tell people that we are rich in love. Most people don't know how to answer to that, so they don't talk to me any more. Oh well. We are and I'm not afraid to tell people that. 

"Are all these yours?" This one has been coming at me since I have my third child, which surprised me. Three just didn't seem like a lot. I guess they were close together, but still. There is a song out there by Rodney Adkins called, He's Mine. I really like that song and I think of it every time people ask me that question. Like he says in the song, "I'll take the blame and claim him (in my case, them) every time. Yeah, ya'll he's mine." When people ask me this question, I claim them all with a huge smile on my face and tell that person that they are all mine and I can't wait for more blessings.

"You know how that happens, right?" We heard this from my husband's cousins wife when I was pregnant with our second, 6 months after I had our first. Let me tell you, I hate this one. No, I still haven't figured it out...duh! I know how it happens. If I'm bold enough, some day I'll tell some one that I do know how it happens and that my husband and I rather enjoy it. For now, I tell them that we are very blessed and hope that we will be blessed with more.

Boys wrestling with Wreck It Ralph gloves

"You must be very patient." Yeah, when I'm sleeping...no, I'm not patient. It's one of those things I really struggle with. I have a hot temper, a quick fuse, and four kids who know how to get a reaction. Yes, I have patient days. I also have days where I have no patience at all. Someone once told me that God doesn't give us patience. He gives us opportunities to practice patience. I completely agree. "No, I'm not patient or a saint. I just have a lot of chances to learn to be patient."

It rained for two day...

Mommy thought, why not let Zach steer through the yard...

We got stuck...my fault completely, but the kids were so excited
about getting stuck and getting unstuck because they did all the work.

Those are some of the many things that we are told often or asked on a regular basis. Some are funny, some are rude. What are some things you are asked regularly?