He's crawling!

Sammy is crawling like crazy. He was doing a little commando thing for a few weeks, but now is figuring out how to get on his knees and really crawl. He is also getting into things too. Time to baby proof the house!

Doctors and Therapy

Samuel has been going to a lot of appointments lately, and I have been on the phone scheduling more! He was evaluated last month by the health department- Children with Special Health Care Needs. He was delayed in the communication section. This qualified him for the Birth to Three Program. We had a coordinator come out to our house for the last 2 weeks, developing a plan to best help him. He is going to the Children's Neurodevelopmental Program at the beginning of next month for 2 trips, more evaluations. He is also getting set up for massage therapy, in our home. Today I made an appointment for a clinic visit to Children's Hospital for Sept. 29. He is going to the Craniofacial Clinic there.

The cat came back

We have a cute little grey and white kitty named Betty. We adopted Betty from a rescue center and she was such a good cat, although timid and not too sure about the kids. The thing I loved the most about her was she was a great mouser. We had her for over a year and she preferred to be outside. In June this year, we were driving to go to the church campout and saw a grey and white cat on the road, not moving. We hadn't seen Betty in a while, and I made J. stop to see if it was Betty. He and I both were pretty sure it was her, she wasn't wearing a coller, she had lost it in the woods somewhere. We were sad, the kids were sad, and they blamed a stray cat that had been hanging around our property, scaring off our kitty.

Today I was looking around our house, trying to help the telephone repair man, and I spotted Betty under the back porch! I did a double take, and couldn't believe it was her! I pulled her out, she was very skinny and light, and put her in the shed, with some food, water and a litter box. She is very spooked and shaggy looking, but I think she will be ok. I can't believe she has been alive this whole time! I wonder where she was???

A great post that touched my heart

I copied this post from a blogger friend's blog... Storing Up Treasures in Heaven. It is exactly what I have been thinking about lately, now that we are almost at 5 children!!

How many is too many?

How many children is too many? Certainly many people would say we already have too many. I, of course do not think so. In fact, I think my family size is just right for us. The funny thing is, I don't ever think we have *too* many kids. It all just seems so normal to me. I love every minute of it.

I think the answer to this question is very personal. I think it needs to be between God and the couple to decide how many children is the right amount for that family. I never imagined 10 would be our number. NEVER. In fact, if you had told me 13 years ago I would someday have 10 kids, I probably would have laughed. Shannon, you always told me we would have 8 , you were pretty darn close. *wink*.

I think the thing that is hardest for us, is that there seems to be this undisclosed rule about family size in our society today. I remember when I was pregnant with our third child, we started getting some snarky reactions. By the time number four was on his way, it was almost constant. Now, people have stopped reacting. We have officially reached the "brink of insanity" and nothing really shocks people anymore.

I often think that had we listened to those around us that we would not have half of our children that we do today. If we had listened to the world, we would most likely have two children. There is nothing wrong at all about that. Children are a blessing, whether you have one, two, or ten. But, for us, I am just really glad we didn't listen. I am really happy that we reached "the brink of insanity". I just cannot imagine my life any other way.

So often we seem to weigh out whether or not another child can fit into our lives. We wonder how much another one will cost. Can we afford it? Do we have enough room in our house? Can I handle another child? What about college? There is nothing wrong with asking these questions. Although had I really worried about all of these things, most of my kids would not be here.

But, what about the most important question of all? The one we rarely ask when it comes to this issue.

*God, what is your desire for our family?

Time and time again I have had conversations with Christians who tell me they have decided what size their family will be. Why do we think this is our choice to make? What would happen if God blatantly asked us to change our plans? Would we be willing? Would we even hear His voice over all of the other voices talking at us? What if He asked you to adopt? Or told you He wanted you to have another baby? Would you weigh out all of the pros and cons? Or would you have faith to believe that God had a plan that was greater than your own?

The saddest conversations to me are the ones that start out like this......
"I always wanted more.... BUT.... *fill in the blanks*.
Often their reasons are worldly. And in their eyes I see emptiness and regret. My heart breaks as I think about these women. They were lured by the world into thinking that children are a burden, not a blessing. Often these women are past child bearing years, some even elderly.

As I sit here looking around at my bustling home, I have to stop and thank God for each one of my blessings. Thank you God for making us "insane" enough to trust you. Life would just not be the same without all of my precious little people.

Summer Fun

Baby Travels

Driving for 6-7 hours on the freeway in 110 degree weather is NOT my idea of fun.  Especially when my husband kept turning off the AC because it is "hard on the engine" and is "not good for the gas mileage".  We had a battle over that one until we returned to the west side of the state and enjoyed much cooler weather!  

Samuel, now age 7 months, was such a good boy the whole way.  He did great away from home, staying in strange places and sleeping through noise in the middle of the living room at Grandma's.  He did great at church, we didn't put him in the nursery because of his cold/cough that everyone except 2 members of our family has right now.  He was distracting people though, because of his constant smiling and jumping on laps.  He is so adorable.  He also did great on the long drive home.  At one point, Cori age 9 had this to report to us from the backseat:

Sammy should win the good baby contest!! He has been smiling and chewing on his toes for two whole hours now.  I am sure he would beat every baby!

We are in MOI!!!

We received the news today along with an MOI number! I am so glad things continue to move along. Please pray Elijah will be home by Christmas. Anything is possible!

Natural wipes

I'm going to try to make this...

1 roll of paper towels, cut in half remove cardboard tube

Put on half of roll in a Rubbermaid container (Collectible round 2 qt with screw on top works best) recipe makes 2 containers

In separate container mix:

16oz bottle witch hazel

add 1 Tbsp. Tea Tree essential oil

1 tsp. Lavendar essential oil

12 drops Lemongrass essential oil

Shake well, add 4 cups distilled water and mix well.  Pour half over each 1/2 roll of paper towels in container.  Put lid on and turn upside down and on it's side to moisten all the towels.

From AromaThyme.com

An old photo send from a friend

From a volunteer...

Elijah was really into playing with blocks.  He'd make a tower, yel "oh, oh, oh" and then knock it over and giggle really hard!  He's a cutie.  He also liked to kiss himself in the mirror and balance things on his head.