Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Millions of Kids, Interest

Madeleine - "That would be great if we had a million boys and a million girls!"  (She paused to think for a moment, then stated very matter of factly.)  "That would be a lot of kids to get doing."

We got bank statements in the mail, and all the kids were comparing their savings and noticed the interest.  They've been joking about those getting a penny every month, and weeping and wailing about those getting more (like a nickel - LUCKY!).  We talked about interest and how that works (Khan Academy has videos about it!), then Sammy made this very insightful statement:  "There's interest, and pinterest.  Satan has sinterest."  What a clever, funny boy.

And Then There Were 7!

(Here I go again - wrote most of this up 3 weeks ago!)

When we walked into the hospital room this is the first thing we saw.  Jamie said his heart melted, so he had to take a picture.  His first ever diaper!  :)


But there's a funny story about that picture.  Jamie went to take it and the camera turned off.  I told him that's why I brought extra batteries, so he put in the new and tossed the old.  Went to take a picture again, and the camera turned off.  I then got told that I apparently grabbed already used batteries, but I told him I pulled them straight out of a pack of batteries.  He handed me the camera so I could mess with it while he headed off to do something for a minute.  Took pictures just fine for me.  ???  When he walked back in the room he sheepishly admitted that he figured out what the problem was - he was pressing the on/off switch to take the picture instead of the take-a-picture button.  Oops!  Made for a great laugh.  He posted something on facebook, a note to self to push the correct button.  "Screamed the batteries in the garbage can!" I added. We were laughing so hard about it all we were both wiping tears away.

We were ready for a boy or girl!



It was our doc's day off, so she popped in multiple times and hung out with us quite a bit.  This is our 5th baby that she's delivered.  We're lucky that our doctor is also a friend.


I brought a couple movies we could watch, the main one being "Pure Luck," our standard labor movie (it's quite the experience trying to laugh while having contractions), but this time around we didn't ever turn it on.  Jamie and I both had books and sat in there reading the whole time.  The nurse kept coming in and commenting about how calm I was and how quiet the room was.  She would crank the pitocin a bit more and come back expecting something different, but I was still reading away.  Not saying I'm tough or anything.  Guess it was a really engaging book?  ("The Seer and the Sword," and yes, I do recommend it.  Similar to "Goose Girl" in some ways.  I finished just before baby was born.)  Eventually the doc got involved and started cranking the pitocin even higher, but things still weren't affecting me as roughly as she thought they should be.  "I AM having a contraction!  Right now!"  Not long after that it was time to call for the epidural which does move everything faster for me.  The doc left for just over an hour, and right before she came back I had the nurse check and we were definitely ready.

The proud dad!  What a blessing to have had this experience with him 7 times now.  All those babies don't remember those days, but I do.  For the record, my second favorite moment (second only to finally getting to hold the sweet little person we've been waiting and waiting to meet) is always just before each baby makes their entrance.  I look up and dad has tears in his eyes, and I know then that the time is very close.  Love that moment.


A few pushes later, and our 8 lb. 4 oz., 21 inch long bundle of sweetness was there!

It was so fun calling up the kids to let them know.  Before the evening before, the only one besides us that knew it was going to be baby day was the doctor.  Just before Adam went to bed we told him, since he would be in charge the next day.  In the morning before leaving for the hospital Madeleine was awake (she's an early riser), so we woke up Melanie to be with her and told her where we were going.  

The kids were all home together, hanging out since that morning waiting to hear the news.  Jamie handed me the phone, and when I told them they have a new baby brother they cheered and cheered.  Madeleine, who was the biggest "it's a girl!" team member, but she very happily told me multiple times during the next few days that "It's okay that our baby is a boy."  She looooooves him.  When he was 4 weeks old she told me, "I thought our baby was a girl!  But I looked in the window (hospital nursery window?) and he was laying there."  She flopped onto her back, then continued, "He was saying, 'It's so hot in here.  Why is it so hot in here?"  :)


That night he was born while I alone cuddling our new baby boy (I love and cherish my quiet time the first night when I can soak my new baby in), I pulled up Jamie's facebook page to see what he had said about the baby, and noticed a family picture.  Almost startled me - it wasn't right!  It had suddenly and sweetly become so outdated.  Wonderful how quickly someone so new and little can become so big and important.

This was just a bit before bringing him home.


Crazy children (Sammy loves to pose)  :)




Crazier children


At over two weeks old he started to get left alone for a *little* while.
But early on, he always had a friend right with him.




I'm glad that even my big toughy enjoys his cuddle time.  He was having a rough time on some of his schoolwork one day and I offered to see what I could do to help him out.  He finally obliged, but I told him he needed to hold the baby while I did it.  Immediately, the stress was gone and he melted.



Dad usually has to wait his turn with all the other hands clamoring to hold him.
I love seeing him get his cuddle time too.


I feel so incredibly blessed!  Many times the craziness and difficulties get the better of me, but many many more times I can hardly stand how wonderful my life is.  I have excellent, intelligent, creative, crazy children.  Every day I do my best to not ruin them by getting in their way too much. 

I'm also married to a great man who loves me and blesses our home.  I deeply appreciate his patience (yes, that's not a typo) and his ability to take one-on-one time with our kids doing things like going to the store and involving them with cooking (two activities I should be better at but am always in the "let's get 'er done!" mode instead of the "let's have fun together!" mode).  I love it when he tells me about a great book or a great talk he knows I would enjoy.

Especially right now it's such a special blessing to have another baby in our home.  Trying, trying every day to soak in his priceless babyhood.  I know from 6 other experiences that it will be gone far too quickly.  Love you sweet boy!