Selah's 2 months!!

Selah Joy... Never underestimate the power of a name...
Paul and I always look up the meanings of the names that we're considering for our babies. We decided on the middle name of Joy only a few days before she was born. It means "joyful and pleasant", and who doesn't want that kind of baby? It was also Christmas time and the season is full of joy... so it seemed fitting.

Joy is the perfect middle name for her! Selah is a very joyful baby. Although I may have a hard time trying to convince others, I am positive she has been smiling since she was only a week old. Both of my girls smiled early, but she has them beat. And, no, it wasn't "just gas". Sheesh, after 6 kids, you'd think I'd know a real smile from a "gassy" or "drifting off to sleep" smile! She has been such a happy and enJOYable baby. She rarely cries, and when she does, she is easily consoled. Selah will break out her big, beautiful grin to anyone who decides to take the time to chat with her. She's even smiled just because I walked by. She is so different from Nathan. Although he wasn't a crabby baby, Nathan would stare at you and make you sing three stanzas to the Star Spangled Banner (does it even have stanzas?) AND dance the Hokey Pokey before he'd crack a smile. What a difference in personalities.

I put Selah in her Bumbo Chair when she was 6 weeks old and her poor little head just plopped to the side and she had to look at the world cockeyed. After a couple minutes, I took her out and decided to wait another couple weeks when her neck and back muscles got stronger and try again. We put her in it this week and she loved it and has decided she likes seeing the world from this new upright position (below).

Unlike the other kids, Selah hasn't lost her birth hair. In fact, she had her first haircut when she was only 2 weeks old. She had such long hair when she was born that it hung over her ears and she looked shaggy all the time. I decided to chop off the extra hair around her ears to clean her up a bit. In the picture below she's "pre-haircut" with wide eyes and a bit of a "light-socket" hair style (courtesy of mommy)...

... and here she is 2 months old with fuller hair and a bit of a mullet look, chubbier cheeks, and beautiful, big blue eyes!! Simply GORGEOUS!

Here's your snake, son.

"Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask!" Matt. 7

Seth reading to Nathan (and everyone else wanted to hear.)

I had NOT read this verse recently, but it came to mind as I interacted with the kids yesterday... When one of the kids chooses to be helpful beyond his/her normal duties (and if I notice), later, I try to comment on it or will slip him (or her) something special. Maybe a piece of mom's dark chocolate or a couple m&m's... something that no one else gets, just to let him know his help is appreciated. It also keeps them motivated to continue helping out when they can. I don't do it everytime. That's not how life works. Sometimes the boss sees your good deeds, and praises you or gives you a raise. Sometimes he doesn't, but that's no excuse to stop doing good.

Well, yesterday, the two older boys were going above and beyond. So much so, that I thought there HAS to be something up their sleeves. Seth made breakfast for everyone and brought it to me in bed, Caleb was being super helpful with the little ones... They are usually "helpful", but it was just one thing after another all morning. I was feeling very blessed. After a while, I started to realize that they may not have anything up their sleeves, they are just doing it... well, just because.

That made me WANT to do something special just for them, not just "repay them for the good they did". It makes me enjoy blessing them with good gifts. I couldn't help but think that maybe God feels the same way with us. He will (and does) give us good gifts simply because we are his children (just as I do for mine). But when we are going the extra mile to do what would please Him. Thinking of Him throughout the day... as you talk to the cashier to brighten his/her day, when you'd rather just keep to yourself... maybe that makes Him smile just as I do when my kids are doing things to please me. And maybe, at those moments, He feels like me, and is thrilled to shower his children with joy and blessings and "good gifts".

Ellie's 6th Birthday!

Even before Christmas, Ellie was asking to have a gingerbread house for her birthday present. She wanted that in place of a cake and wanted to eat it all herself. That sounded like a simple present to me, so my mom picked up a kit around Christmas time and we stuck it in the freezer until her birthday. She hadn't seen it, but reminded me several times that the gingerbread house was what she wanted for her present. We pulled it out the day before her birthday and she was so excited! She spent most of the morning of her birthday decorating it. She let each of the other kids have a part in helping her.

As the birthday kid always gets to decide what they want for breakfast, Caleb asked her what she wanted a few days before. "Doughnuts!" I wasn't sure if we'd be able to make a morning run for them, so I bought a cheap pack of powdered covered ones from Aldi just in case (you and I know they don't taste nearly as good, though). On her birthday morning, Caleb came through for her. By the time I got downstairs, he had already made the dough for donut-holes and was looking for oil to fry them in. After frying them, he rolled them in cinnamon and sugar or powdered sugar. Yum, they were great!!

Later that evening, our families came over to celebrate with us. When I saw the above picture of Ellie (with her finished gingerbread house "cake"), I couldn't help but notice how grown up she looked. She's not out of the little girl stage, but I can see a beautiful young lady starting to develop. Ellie has grown alot in her consideration for others this year. It's a beautiful thing when the kids start to look out for the interests of others and not just themselves. I pray that Ellie will continue to mold into the person that God has planned for her to become.

Mt. Olympus Waterpark

Every year we try to head to an indoor waterpark for Ellie's birthday. Being that her birthday is in the middle of winter, it's a great excuse for a getaway and helps break that cabin fever we're all feeling. This year we went up to the Wisconsin Dells. As we were calling around, there weren't many places that would let us rent one room for our whole family without costing an arm and a leg for a condo-type room. Mount Olympus still wouldn't let us all stay in one room, but their price for two rooms was cheaper than the large suite at other hotels. We got two adjoining rooms that had a total of 4 queen beds and 2 bunk beds. We hardly knew what to do with all the extra room!

Ellie, the birthday princess, on a queen bed ;)

The kids had tons of fun (and wasted lots of energy) on all the waterslides and in the pools. Paul had pulled his back right before we left, so his playtime was limited, and I sat in a chair with Selah the majority of the time. I couldnt' find a swimsuit for her and wasn't really thrilled about sticking her in the chlorine water anyhow, so my "swimming" was only to walk around in the foot-deep water and take some pictures.

They had a nice kiddie area where Ellie, Grace and Nathan spent most of their time. As I sat in the chair by the edge of the kiddie area, I thought to myself, "trying to keep track of six kids at a large waterpark, when only 2 of them are secure swimmers, is anything but relaxing." We did have the kids team up so that they weren't swimming alone, but I still found myself constantly scanning the pool areas for my kids. It's sad when you have to not only be wary of water dangers, but also of wierdos that may be lurking around... Someday I'll be able to lounge by the pool and read my magazine (what was I thinking when I brought it anyhow?), but I've still got a few years to go...

Along with the water park, they also had an indoor theme park. It has a rollercoaster, go carts, bumper cars and a few amusement park rides that were included with our room. I think the kids enjoyed the rides as much or more than the waterpark.

Possum Number 2!!

Seth holding my second possum!!

I shot another egg-eating possum this week. We've noticed our egg count has been fluctuating each day, but attributed it to the cold weather and short days. It's too bad that it was MY chicken coop where the little critter decided to feast...

Noah is the one who gets the brunt of the possum problem. Poor Noah, who goes to get the eggs every day, came rushing in the house and said that a possum was in the coop. He excitedly declared that it's "mouth was opened a foot wide and was trying to bite his boot off!" Good thing for those thick winter boots, eh? He said that it was in a nesting box and Lady, our cattle dog (whom he ALWAYS takes in with him after the last possum incident), drug the possum out onto the floor and that's when it was going to "attack" him. Possums would much rather play dead than attack a person. When they're being attacked, they generally sit still with their mouths wide open and hiss or growl. Not wanting to deal with a possum, I told Seth to go out with Noah and encourage Lady to take care of it (I really thought it had run away by this time). They came in a few minutes later and said that I needed to kill it because it was trying to bite Lady...

So, I grabbed our possum killer (our "James Bond" gun which is kept under lock and key, of course), and went out to get rid of the nasty thing. It was wedged between the back of the bookcase that we use for nesting boxes and the wall of the henhouse. I had a 2 inch slot to look through and try to hit it in the dark. After 4 shots, it still wasn't dead (we could tell because it was still growling). It was too dark to see anything but part of a furry outline so I was obviously missing it. I couldn't get a better view unless I climbed on top of the bookcase and looked down at it with a flashlight, which I didn't care to do. The 4 foot high bookcase has chickens that walk all over the top of it, and it has an inch layer of chicken manure packed on it. Yuck! I went back inside and changed into my snow pants and thought, "too bad the show Dirty Jobs isn't here right now. I think this would qualify." The next two shots took care of it.

Seth has gotten much braver since last time and asked to drag it out by the tail right away. After insisting that he make sure it was dead, he pulled it out and we took a couple photos. Yay, Seth!! I don't mind shooting it, but I certainly DON'T want to touch it!!! Into the trash can it went because, after all, tomorrow is garbage day :) Hope the garbage man doesn't mind...

Me and my brave little Noah!

Diggiin' the Shedd

The kids and I went to the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago last week with my friend, Lisa, and her 6 kids. Hooray for free days!! When we went up in line, they asked how many adults and how many kids. "Two adults and..." Wait, does 6 and 7 actually add up to 13? That sounds like a lot. Let me make sure my math skills are right... Yep, "thirteen."

We had a great time!! We took our 15 passenger van and every seat was filled (should've been my first clue that my math was right). The night before, I was commenting to Paul about how to keep an eye on the kids since it's a big place and I didn't know how crowded it would be. His first reply was to take a picture of each kid (just in case anyone got lost) so we could quickly have a reference for anyone else to help find them. He then said I should dress them all in the same color. I gave up on that idea because I didn't think we had the same color shirt for everyone... Little did I know Seth would come to the rescue. He woke up early and Paul mentioned finding matching shirts. Seth went right to work and actually found red shirts for everyone and had their outfits laid out for them to put on by the time they woke up!! Way to go, Seth! You can see from the picture which kids are mine by the red shirts :)

Homeschooling at it's best (other than actually snorkling in the ocean to see the fish).

Ellie's prized picture of the iguana. She was so proud to have taken it herself!

Selah's 6 weeks!

It's so fun having a newborn around again. It's been even more fun this time because of how much the other kids are enjoying her. You'd think that the seventh baby would be put in a bouncy seat and left to fend for herself, but just the opposite is true. I believe she is held more than any of the kids before her. I constantly have her older siblings coming up and asking to hold her. Funny thing is... they never seem to want to hold her when she's crying. It's usually when she's sleeping or content that they ask to pick her up. The change of movement usually sends her out of the blissful content state and she'll end up crying within a few minutes and then they set down a crying baby. I've had to conquer that dilemma in my mind and realize that their interest in holding baby Selah is worth the extra effort on my part.

The fact is, it has paid off. The kids have improved in their holding and soothing techniques. The girls accomplish it a bit better than the boys, but each has their own style. Ellie does a wonderful knee-bending bounce thing while standing up. Grace likes to sit and rock her from side to side. The boys... well, they do the best they can :) Each one is going to have great parenting skills someday.

Another thing I've had to come face to face with is the idea of my fragile newborn being carried around by a little person that hardly weighs 20 pounds more than she does. It's the old "take a deep breath and relax" technique that allows me to hand her to Ellie or Grace. They both are proud that they can hold Selah "while standing" and would prefer that I hand her over that way. The first few times were nerve-wracking and filled with "Be careful!", "Gentle, please!", and "Hold her head!", but they've proven to be excellent little mommies and I have very little inhibitions about it now. (Except when they try dancing with her or walking through their brothers'nerf basketball competitions).

Selah has a pink "storkbite" birth mark right in the middle of her forehead. She also has one on her right eyelid that is less noticeable. Most of the kids were born with this birthmark on the back of their neck. It's called a storkbite because, well, that is where the "stork" is said to have bit them to carry them to their new home. This type of birthmark fades as they get older and seems less noticeable at times. My mom claims that I had one in the same spot when I was born and would turn beet red when I cried. Anyhow, I can remember seeing birthmarks on other people's babies and feeling sorry for the parents in some way. It's funny that I don't feel the same way about Selah. I don't know how I'd feel if it were a different type of birthmark, but I kind of like it. It sets her apart a little bit and makes her special. Weird, I know, but maybe that's how all parents feel, even those with handicaps. I'm thinking that it's just the people on the outside of the family that make the parents feel uncomfortable or embarassed about it. I believe that our society cares too much about what other people think and not enough about what God's opinion is. There are many times (maybe most of the time) when Jesus cast off the "opinion shackles" of the crowd and did what was right in his Father's sight. A lesson that affects every area of life and is still sinking into my soul... (excerpt from Deep Thoughts by Amy Larson :)

Natey

Nathan is so much fun. He's talking well and sometimes you can tell when he's trying to use a new word in the correct context because he'll pause slightly before trying it. His new word today was "before". He pointed to a dolphin in a book and said, "I saw one of those, (pause) before." "Yes, your right, you did see one at the zoo," I replied. Then he went on to point out the other animals that he had seen "before". It was cute!

You'd think with five kids before him, that all the new stuff would be old hat, but I've been starting to think that the more kids I have, the more delightful those moments become. I'm not quite sure why, but although I loved watching the older kids go through different stages, it's been different with Nathan and Selah. Maybe it's because I'm older (and wiser), maybe because the other kids are excited and enjoying it with me (very likely), maybe because I'm not so concerned with having everything "perfect" (impossible, so why bother), or maybe because I realize that these moments don't last forever. Whatever the reason, or combination of reasons, my heart lights up as I watch them discover new things and just enjoy life.

Nathan is a ham. He loves when people watch him and can be so dramatic. He cracks me up many times. As cute as he is, we ALWAYS know when he's tired because he causes trouble. Takes books off the shelves, gets into the game closet, irritates his sisters... BEDTIME!!

Superman!! We've had these pajamas since Caleb (and they belonged to my neighbor's son before that) All the boys have fun wearing it for the first time and Nathan's no different... he just has a bigger crowd to "oooooo and awwww" at him.

Nathan is not know for falling asleep anywhere but in his crib or carseat. None of the kids did. We got home late on Superbowl night, I changed him and though he was totally awake when I went to grab pajamas, he was out cold when I got back.

Snow, snow, and more snow

The kids have had fun playing in the snow that was part of "one of the greatest snowstorms that hit Chicago". We have areas of our yard where the hibernating grass is showing through, and other parts with 4 foot drifts. With the weatherman predicting the storm a few days in advance, we had time to get excited about what was coming! Right before it started snowing hard, the kids and I went out and built a support stucture for our igloo. We piled up all of the "junk" and toys that we could find in the yard to make a place that would be semi-safe to crawl into after the snow fell.

Me and Nathan in our snow garb. The drift by our fence was incredible... and tons of fun to dig paths through. Like my hat? I decided, after looking at these pictures, that the fuzzy thing would happily join the "hat hand-me-down club" that my kids rummage through before hitting the snow. Note to self... look in the mirror after adorning anything new... :)

Paul fired up the new-to-us snowblower that my dad gave us earlier this winter. It has saved the day a few times already this winter.

Caleb and Paul shoveled where the drifts were too deep while the rest of us played.

This is Noah and Nathan in the "igloo". The snow didn't come straight down, so our creation only got covered where it was drifted over, but they had fun digging the snow out and climbing through. If you look, you can see Nathan's red cheeks. The following day, his cheeks (especially the right one) was so red that it looked like someone had slapped him, and they felt hot (only on the red part). For the life of me, I couldn't figure out what was wrong with him. I looked it up on the internet and came up with some "slapped-cheek disease" (fifth's disease) or a capillary problem. It took me a day and a half to figure out that he was NOT diseased or contagious, but had stayed out too long on that cold day right after the snow. The poor little guy had gotten some serious wind-burn on his cheeks. It's a week later and his poor cheek is still tinged pink.

Nathan and Grace right after we went out to play. The boys had dug some short tunnels through the drifts in our driveway. What a fun day (and daddy had a extra day and a half off to boot)!

Selah's 1 month old!

I'm still typing with one hand these days because I'm usually nursing a baby with the other :) If I have two hands free, I'm usually doing something more pertinent than blogging....

I need to do some catch up, so I'm planning to find the time soon! Til then, here's a few pictures of beautiful Selah at 1 month old...

Noah, Nathan and Selah

Gracie, in her glory... holding her baby sister.