The Magnificent Seven!

The first picture of all 7 kiddos! What a good look'n, sweet bunch of kids! :)

I came from a family of 7 kids. I remember always feeling like 7 just was not enough kids in our family. Maybe it was because I was toward the end of the family and my siblings were mostly all older...but probably it was just because I loved my family so much and felt like there weren't enough of them!

7 kids has always been the number I knew would be at least our minimum (if not our maximum) number of kids we would have. I have always wanted a lot of kids. When I was a little girl, I would tell people I wanted 23 kids...by the time I met and fell in love with Dave, that number was down to a more realistic 13. Kids are just amazing and fun and wonderful and bring so much joy to the planet!

Other people look at our family and sort of freak a bit at the amount of children we have, but looking at them all and knowing them all....7 feels like a very small number. They each bring such a unique light and love to our family....which light could we have done without? Which sweet smile and which bright laugh would we not miss? Wow, makes me depressed just thinking about living my life and trying to learn all I need to learn without every single one of my children. I am so blessed and my life has been made so much richer from having the extreme privilege and honor of being the mother to each of my 7 children!! Is it more work, more noise, more mess, more busyness than if we just had a few? Of course it is....but it's all worth it...and then some!

Spring finally starting springing, Duncan started giving us lots of smiles and Dave went to China!

After a VERY long winter that began way back at the first of October and lasted until the middle of May, Spring finally arrived!

Our two apple trees (from which we never get any edible apples thanks to the bugs and birds) burst into full bloom all in one glorious weekend!

Apple blossoms are so cheery; so bright; so happy; so SPRING!

Duncan has always responded to our happy faces by giving us a little smile here and there...even from the day he was born. But around the middle of May, he started smiling even more!

We started being able to count on him smiling pretty much every time we smiled at him (and he was not crying...)

Suddenly, he became much more interactive and sociable!

At 4 1/2 weeks old, he was giving his Daddy regular smiles....just in time for his Daddy to leave us for 5 weeks to go to China!

The day before Dave left, we met him so we could release a few "pets" that really belonged in the wild. While we waited for him to arrive, the kids enjoyed climbing a big tree...

.....playing with some big sticks....

....walking around, enjoying the nice weather and sunshine....

....looking for bugs....playing with more big sticks....

.....delighting at the discovery of "wishing flowers".....

.....climbing very high in the big tree.....

.....nursing the baby (well, I did that, not the kids)........

......being silly........

......hanging out in the car............

......wrangling REALLY big sticks.....

....and then Daddy arrived and took the kids down to the creek to release the critters.

Yes, we use our food storage containers for critters sometimes.....What? It's safe...we're not dead yet....

There goes Charmander, the tiger salamander off to enjoy his new life of freedom! The kids also released a garter snake, whom I'm sure was also very glad to be free....so glad, in fact, that he slithered off too fast to get a picture of!

The next day, early in the morning, Dave left a very emotional post-partum wife and their 7 children to spend 5 weeks in China.

Very happily, my generous and kind Mother came to stay with us for the majority of the time Dave was gone. As you can tell by Duncan's very happy face, we were all over-joyed she came! :)

Fiona's baptism

Fiona recently turned eight!! In our church, we don't believe in infant baptism. We believe, through modern-day revelation, that we are not born in sin. We believe children reach the age of accountability (and thus become responsible for their mistakes/wrong-doings and are old enough to choose for themselves) at eight years old. Before a child is baptised, they have an interview with the bishop of our congregation just like any convert of any age would. The bishop asks them, essentially, if they have a testimony of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and if they have a desire to be baptised in his name.

Here is the family before the service...our first family picture since little Duncan was born! He was 9 days old in this picture. :)

I am so happy for Fiona that she chose to become a disciple and follower of Christ by being baptised! I am very proud of the choices she makes. She has a great desire to choose the right. I am thankful her older brothers have chosen to be such great examples to her and the other kids. I am very thankful for a husband who chooses to be a worthy priesthood holder and can use that priesthood (which is the proper authority to act in God's name through ordinances and blessings) to baptise and bless our children. Duncan was blessed in church the day after Fiona's baptism. :)

After her baptism, Fiona went for a daddy-daughter date with Dave. They went to the church book store so Fiona could choose her very own set of scriptures and get her name embossed on them. Then they got some ice cream. :)

Hunt and peck....

Three weeks ago today, the above sweet little baby, Duncan, was born! And ever since then, my arms have constantly been holding him.

I LOVE holding and snuggling my babies! But it does call for one-handed typing which is slow and frustrating....thus I have hardly e-mailed, facebooked....or blogged! Some day my arms will be all too empty of babies...I'll blog a lot then! :)

Sample birth plan for a natural hospital birth

Before I had my first baby, I heard of a lady at church who at gone "all natural" for the birth of her babies. I pictured a woman lying in a hospital bed, hooked up to all the regular stuff, thrashing in pain. I think this is probably the way most people picture a "natural" (meaning no pain meds) hospital birth. I had already started reading a bit about natural childbirth and felt that was the direction I wanted to go. Since that time, I have read and studied and read and studied some more about the subject and, of course, given birth a few times! The birth plan I have worked out and feel really happy with is not really just about not having pain meds during birth; it is really about achieving a birth with as little intervention as possible.

An intervention-free birth is very important to me. I did not work hard to bring this sweet baby into the world only to have him whisked away by nurses when he should be cuddling skin to skin with his Mommy. I didn't go through 3 months of pure nausea to be tied down to a hospital bed with wires and monitors and IV's plugged into me . I didn't endure countless nights of insomnia only to be told by nurses to hold my breath and push while they count to 10! Not only are these interventions things that I personally don't like, they have all been proven to be pointless and even harmful to a normal, healthy labor.

The AAP has stated that the mother is the best means of warming a newborn and immediate skin to skin contact helps facilitate bonding and successful breastfeeding and yet the routine in most hospitals involves the baby being whisked away from Mom to a warming table and then not returned to mom until the baby has achieved a desired body temp and is wrapped tightly in blankets. Even though studies have concluded that breath holding and directed pushing can deprive your baby of oxygen, it is still the "norm" in most hospitals today. The same can be said for most routine hospital protocol...it's either just not necessary or it can actually hinder your labor/birth/bonding. This is where a good birth plan (and good birth attendant) comes in.

Below is a sample birth plan to help you achieve a "natural" or non-intervention birth.

Birth Plan for:
EDD:

I would like to wear my own clothes during labor, birth, and postpartum.

I would like freedom to use the tub and shower as I see fit during labor.

I will not require a routine I.V.

I would like the freedom to move about and labor and birth in any position I feel comfortable. This may include giving birth in a location of the room other than the bed. If the birth does take place on the bed, I do NOT want the bed broken down.

I would like the room to remain dim/naturally lit.

I would like intermittent fetal monitoring with a Doppler, not continuous.

If labor augmentation becomes an issue, i would prefer to use natural methods deemed appropriate by me.

I do not want any extra people in the room while I labor and give birth. The only hospital staff present should be my midwife/doctor, the nurse, and the baby nurse.

I want to be able to push when I am ready to push with no directed pushing (holding breath and counting to ten.)

I would rather tear than have an episiotomy.

I would like my husband and/or myself to "catch' the baby if appropriate.

I want my baby's cord to sop pulsating before my husband or I cut it...a minimum of 5-10 minutes after birth.

I want my baby to be immediately placed on my chest following birth, nurse right away, and remain with me continuously. I want all procedures/baby checks to be done while my baby remains on my chest. I do not want the baby to spend any routine time on warming bed.

In the event of an emergency/unforeseen circumstance I want my husband to remain with the baby at ALL times.

My baby will not receive the eye ointment, vitamin K shot, or hepatitis B shot.

If my baby is a boy, he will not be circumcised.

I would like the freedom to return home within 24 hours after the birth if I so desire.

I would like my family to be able to visit myself and the baby immediately following the baby's birth if I so desire.

Yes, emergencies arise and sometimes plans need to be altered and that is fine...the key is to be as educated and prepared as possible to help prevent those emergencies. If you are interested in achieving a birth with little to no intervention, I recommend not being induced and waiting until you are in active labor before going to the hospital, as well as educating yourself. It is important to be flexible with your expectations, but in the case of a normal, healthy labor there is no reason why all of your desires for you birth can not be met! Hiring a doula (a professional labor assistant) will also greatly benefit you with having the birth you want!

Is a pain medication-free birth the best choice for every woman? No, I think every woman has the right to make that decision for herself...but it is every woman's right to have the safest birth and the birth she desires for herself and her baby...the fewer the interventions used, the more likely she will attain this goal.

Le Grande Cirque

7 or 8 months ago, Dave bought tickets for our whole family to go and see a troupe of Chinese Acrobats preform. They do an act similar to Cirque de Soliel and it sounded really fun and exciting! After anticipating it for so many months, last night was finally the big event!

The performance was held at the Air Force Academy. We thought we'd try and get a better parking spot by going on campus (where you need a special clearance badge to get on) rather than waiting in the very looooooong line of cars to get into the regular parking. Hmm...didn't really work out that way! We were running a bit late already, so we argued a bit and then parked in a lot that I thought was closer than it really was. Apparently, Dave knew how far away we were but didn't want to argue too much with a pregnant woman...he'd rather see her hike 5 billion miles up hill. :) It was pretty darn windy and cold, but the kids were all super excited and that excitement gave them the motivation and energy to hike such a long way. I was grumpy about it, of course...and not mentally/emotionally prepared to walk (mostly up-hill) such a long distance. About 10 minutes into the hike, Scarlett turned to me and with bright eyes asked "will there be real live bats?" She was a bit disappointed as I tried to explain to her that bats had nothing to do with acrobats.

We finally made it to the auditorium just as it was supposed to begin, but there were so many people still coming in that they didn't start right away. We had a nice row 6 seats off to a side and Elijah and Sebastian sat behind us. It worked out perfectly that Brighton could walk around and was not able to escape our row.

The actual show was pretty good...very dramatic and exciting to watch with the usual cool tricks like 5 billion people on a bicycle, a guy balancing on a ladder who balanced a couple of girls on his shoulders, contortionists who sat on their own heads and stood on their own shoulders, plate spinners, guys who jumped and tumbled through hoops, etc. In between acts, there was a "funny guy" who pulled people from the audience and did entertaining and funny things...Haven especially really liked him. I think everyone's favorite act was right after intermission when they had the stage completely dark with black lights shining at it. There were performers dressed in glow in the dark clothes who did neat tricks, but mostly all the performers were dressed in black and you couldn't see their bodies...just the ribbon they were twirling or the table they were spinning or whatever. It was pretty cool.

My favorite thing about the evening was hearing the kids spontaneous reactions to what they were watching. The boys, who were sitting behind me, kept getting louder and louder as their excitement grew. Sebastian kept saying things like "spectacular" or "amazing" and Elijah kept saying either "rad" or "that's so cool!" It was sweet to watch Haven clap during parts she really liked...even though no one else was clapping at all. Scarlett, who was sitting next to me, would look over at me with a big smile when she saw something she liked. There was one part where ladies came out in costumes that looked like they had flowy wings and she said to me "those must be the bats!" :) Fiona leaned forward and watched everything pretty intently and mostly helped Brighton with his snacks ...and by "helping" I think that meant she got some snackage too. :)

The show lasted about 2 hours and, at it's completion, it was 2 1/2 hours past Brighton, Scarlett and Haven's bedtime! Scarlett was VERY tired...she almost fell asleep at the end and there was no way she was going to be able to walk all the way back to the car. Once we got outside, Sebastian sweetly offered to carry her. He tried for a few minutes, but his coat was very poofy and slippery and he hasn't figured out the hip carry thing yet, so it was pretty hard for him and not comfy for Scarlett. I offered to carry her and mentioned I had a nice little bump for her to sit on. She liked that idea. :) I carried her for a while, with Sebastian offering over and over again to carry her so I could have a break. He is a sweet son. :) I needed a break after awhile and tried to teach him the hip carry...but being an 11 year old boy, he doesn't really have hips...and again with the puffy, slippery coat...so it didn't really work out again, but even just the one or two minutes he carried her gave me the break I needed to be able to carry her again. (Dave was carrying Brighton.) The wind was even colder than when we had arrived and everyone was sooooo tired! After we got down a big hill, I needed another break from carrying Scarlett so Sebastian tried to create a "bump" for her by having the diaper bag hang from his neck and have her sort of sit on the diaper bag at his front. That lasted about another 2 minutes. Then I tried to coax her into walking a bit and told her we were almost to the car!! She kept saying "no we're not...I can't see it!" and was just too tired to walk. Then I told her "pretend you're a little pioneer girl and we're walking to Salt Lake!" She was not very thrilled about that, either so I scooped her up again and we all finally made it back to the car.

It was a really fun, family experience and I'm very glad we went. I have to admit, though, that it wasn't really that much more exciting than watching it on t.v....so while I'm glad we shared this experience as a family and my kids got to go, I probably won't be that excited to do it again. :)

Happy Birthday to my mom!

Happy Birthday, Mom!! I am so lucky to have you as a Mom and as my kids' Grandma! :) Thanks for your wonderful example and all that you have taught me!! :)