Emma Clare was born March 30th at 10:44 pm weighing 9 lbs 3 oz and was 19 inches long.  She's a sweet little thing except for being 13 days overdue (not so sweet).  Picture coming soon!

It's a BOY!!

Blair gave birth to a beautiful baby boy today! Thomas William is Blair's latest blessing! And he's a cutie! Congratulations B family! Can't wait to meet him! Vincent is so excited to have a new playmate!

Vincent Video

Vincent Baby Pictures

Busy adjusting to life with Vincent! He likes to sleep during the day and stay awake by night so I'm slowly trying to adjust his schedule. We also start school next week and I'm printing/copying those final papers, charts, schedules, etc. Here are some pictures of my little man. Its the best blogging I can do right now!

He's Here!!

Vincent Anthony was born Friday, July 23rd at 3:33 pm.

My was he a big boy! He weighed in at 8 lbs 15 oz and was 20 inches long.

We arrived home late last night and are settling in just fine. We got off to a slow start with nursing BUT now that he gets the concept he's cooperating.

He's beautiful and the kids love him. It wasn't my ideal birth plan but all is well that ends well.

Thanks for your prayers!

I'm Still Here

I've been more than absent from my blog, I know. I wish I could claim I was too busy to post, but I wasn't. While waiting I was trying to organize my emotions and life.

Can you believe that this week (or next) while I'm having my 7th baby, my first baby will be going away to camp for a whole week! All by herself! She leaves this Sunday. And so while preparing for the new baby I've been dealing with lots of emotions about letting my first baby go. She's growing up into a young woman.

My biggest worries used to be about her learning to read. Now I'm worried about what she's reading, what she's watching, if I've taught her enough to go out into the big world.

Meanwhile, this new little one is arriving and will have to jump into our busy schedule. So different from the first time.

I've been thinking alot. I can't believe how fast life is going. And I'm sometimes dissapointed with how much I don't get done. But I also try to focus on what I do manage to squeeze in between chaufering, cooking and laundry.

I managed to crochet the baby a beautiful blue afghan. Craig finally bought me a glider rocker!!!!!!!!! Six children and never once have I had a glider rocker. LOL!

We've been busy painting the house, going through a job change (and insurance change, too), trying to figure out how to be the mom to older kids who've gone from being doting to arguing all the time.

My back has been more than sore and more than twice I've been confined to lying around due to some unpleasant pain when sitting common to pregnancy. :-)

But, all in all, its been worth it. I'm ready for this baby. And even though I've been an emotional mess (as in buckets and buckets of tears) and my kids have had to pick up the slack around here, I know that as soon as I hold him I will forget these pass few weeks. And my sweetie will be happy to have his normal wife back. Its amazing he can put up with me during these final weeks!

So, stay tuned. Hopefully our newest baby will make an appearance soon.

Video Announcement

I'm so behind in uploading pics and videos to my blog. In fact, I've got Christmas videos I still want to upload. Anyways, I thought I would start with one of the most recent. Its a video clip of when we told the kids (and my mom-in-law) that we are expecting baby boy.

Enjoy! The kids LOVE, LOVE, LOVE watching videos of themselves so I'll be uploading more in the future (because I've got too many on my phone!!)

It's a ....

*drum roll*


BOY!!!

Ultrasound says we're adding some testosterone to our mix! My boys (and girls) are super excited!!

Ever since Blair's hubby told us years and years ago that he was #7 boy, I've wondered if we would follow the same pattern. Seems like it!!

I've already bought 2 blue outfits and can't wait to pull out Kolbe's baby things. Also, I'm itching to rearrange kids, bedrooms & sleeping arrangements.

I've been thinking of boy names all day!! We're so excited and can't wait to meet him! Yeah!

Baby News

I can FINALLY share my joy in Blair's happy news! Another baby! Of course she's been added to the side bar.

As for me, I'm about 18 weeks along and so far so good, praise God! We hope to find out if baby is a she or he on March 5th. Its only fair to give Kolbe the news of a baby brother right away or give him weeks to prepare (mentally) to be sandwiched btwn three girls on either end! LOL!

I did ask him today what he thought if the baby was a girl. He smiled and said that so far he liked all his sisters. That really warmed my heart. But then he quickly added that he wanted to love a brother. ;-)

Anyways, Congratulations Blair!!! I love talking about babies!

Call For New Expecting Mommies!!

Seems like most of the mommies on my sidebar have delivered beautiful babies!! Katie has her Edmund. Melissa has her Austin. Veronica just had Santiago. Kristin has been enjoying Stephen. And Colleen has been enjoying her Clara. Not to mention my non-blogging friends!

Anyone new I should add to the side?? Anyone care to drink the water around here? ;-)

Supermom Post of the Week

This year I've really been trying to keep on top of things. In addition to my incentive plans and diligent planning for the upcoming school week, I've also been trying to have the house picked up and ready to go for Monday mornings. I've been doing laundry marathons during the weekend so as to "let it go" during the week.


I don't post this to make anyone feel bad ... in fact ... just the opposite!! Because no matter how much I prepare, life happens. Case in point: Last night I swept and mopped the kitchen. I wanted to begin the week with something already done. It was a Herculean effort on my part because yesterday was our parish festival and I was there ALL DAY!! I was tired and just wanted to go to bed. But I cleaned up the kitchen, swept, mopped and even set out breakfast for the morning. When we were leaving the festival the kids were given leftover plates and plates of free baked goods. So I set them out for the morning to have with milk.


Well, school has been going great!!! Two of my kids will be done before lunch. And the baby has been cooperating with my plans. No crying or whining. In fact, where is she???

Oops! I've been caught! Let me hurry and eat some more while she takes pictures and before she brings out that vacuum sweeper thingie!!

Maybe if I smile she'll keep taking pictures and I can keep eating?
Mmmm! I need to hang around those older kids during meal times!!

Note to self: Review plate to mouth motion with children. Draw and color parts of the body, concentrate on hands and mouth.

Note to self: Review dietary guidelines with baby. Inform her that until her 1 year birthday she should avoid consuming products containing eggs, milk, and nuts. And strongly advise against products with refined sugar.

Note to self: I can't put this under "Baby Firsts" category. :-/

Note to self: At least Veronica is learning self reliance and the important skill of foraging for food.

For the AFV Team

Just so I can't be accused of discrimination, these pictures are for the AFV Team (Advocates For Veronica) .................

What color are those eyes? I'm holding out for green. Craig says they're brown.

Guess who's standing up and walking along furniture? And climbing stairs? And getting into lots of trouble?

Sleeping .... again? She's developed this habit of only sleeping when being held. Good thing my girls don't mind!

At a swim meet ......

My version of a baby gate .......

Is the AFV Team happy?

Sewing Fitted Diapers

I'm so excited about the fitted diaper I just made Veronica!!! I found a pattern that seemed simple enough. The best part was that it called for used tee shirts as the material. So, after raiding Craig's drawers (thanks sweetie), I found myself a blue tee that has seen enough years.

Next time I'm making a size medium instead of a small. I don't think this diaper will last her more than 2 weeks. Also, I wish the Velcro didn't stand out so much. I thought about cutting its width, but thought it wouldn't work as well. Maybe I can find colored Velcro for the future.

I made the sewn-in soaker style. I might try the stuffable style next time. How exciting! I think I'm going to put my crocheting down in light of this new hobby!

*Note* The diaper looks like its made of denim but its actually a very soft blue tee shirt. Click on the pictures to see full screen images and you'll be able to see how soft it actually is.

Posh Baby

* UPDATED: Just wanted to add that her "Ralph Lauren" was a $6 second hand buy. Didn't want anyone thinking I regularly spent this much money on baby clothing. Ralph Lauren, smocked outfits and other expensive baby clothes were a dime a dozen where I used to live.
Here's Veronica wearing one of my favorite baby outfits. Many of my girls have sported this Ralph Lauren outfit. I'll be sad when she no longer fits into it.




Also, here's Veronica wearing her first Bumgenius diaper. I've wondered about them but never had ordered any. Well, Target carries them now!! I just had to pick one up and try it out. I can say that so far I love it!!

Guess what else Target is selling these days? California Baby shampoo (my favorite for over 10 years), No Sox, cute wet diaper bags, slings and much more. On the one hand, I hope they keep carrying boutique baby items I could only order on the internet. On the other hand, delayed gratification and shipping costs are what kept me from ordering many times! LOL!!

Well, off to Target to get more diapers! ;-)

More babies ....

Trisha just had her first little one and he's precious. Also, Katie and Devin are welcoming their two little boys this week. I also forgot to post about Roxie's baby that was due the same time as mine. Go over and congratulate these first time parents!!

I'm soooooo enjoying following all these baby threads. And am praying for all those mommies (both blogging and non-blogging) expecting babies.

As for my Veronica, this morning when Isabelle went to put an outfit on her, it was found that she had grown overnight. I'm trying to savor everyday because I am very aware of how fast babies grow.

Veronica is wrapped in a blanket I crocheted.

Veronica: 1 Month Old

Well, a month has gone by and Veronica is now one month old. She has turned out to be a beautiful nurser. Last weekend I was ready to quit but I've healed up nicely and she is doing beautifully. In fact, she is almost 1 pound over her birth weight!! YEAH!!

Here is my wide-eyed Veronica with her handsome daddy on Thanksgiving Day (her real one month birthday):

And, here she is (falling asleep) with me right before this morning's mass:

Introducing .......

Veronica Grace

October 27, 2008

2:55 AM

8 lbs. 8.5 oz

20 inches long

Born via waterbirth

We're home now and resting. And VERY happy!! Thank you for all your prayers! I'll chat more later. Enjoy the pictures.