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I’m getting all my posts out of order but I’m just going to get caught up on everything we did this summer in the most logical order I can muster.

My brother, Jason, and his family all came back to America on furlough from his mission work in France. It has been a little over 2 years since they last visited. Three babies have been born during the time they were away. Sarah and I had never met Jason’s youngest and he had not seen our youngest children.

This is a picture my Dad took at church camp of the three of us siblings holding the 3 children that had been born since Jason’s last furlough.

We really enjoyed seeing my brother, his wife Angie and their 5 children. The first day we saw them this summer we adults expected some really big excited show when all the cousins got back together again but they all just said, “Hi!” and commenced to playing and talking like they had only been apart a short time.

This is a picture of all the cousins sitting on my parents couch.

We’ve had a tradition before my brother had gone to France of taking a picture of all the cousins together. Whenever we had a new child born it was time for a new picture. Elijah was just born the last picture we took. This time my sister has a child she was able to add to the group along with our niece that was born in France and Elisabeth that was just born a couple weeks before they arrived.

It was nice to find a day that we were all able to get together at my parents to take pictures and visit. The kids had an amazing time building memories with their cousins.

During the week at my parents we were able to enjoy a trip to the zoo and out of the 11 children present not one got lost even once.

I’m glad that we are getting to build memories with my brother’s family.
It was nice to have them at church camp again this year. It made this camp extra special for us. I’ll try to get a blog in about church camp this week as well.

Summer is almost to an end. It won’t be long before I start posting about homeschool activities. I’ll try to be caught up before then on my summer posts.

Well, I’m still behind on posting but I’m not going to quit. Hopefully I’ll get myself back on track and post at least once a week again.

Joshua and Ruth both celebrated their birthdays this month. I should have posted much sooner but it’s been a busy few weeks. So this is my catch up post for both of their Birthdays.

Joshua’s birthday was June 27 but we had an early celebration with his cousins. My brother and his family came back to Texas on furlough from France. I made a homemade pinata and let Joshua paint and decorate it however he wanted. We spent that Friday night at my parents cottage with my parents, my brother, his wife, and their 5 children. It’s amazing how little space can accommodate 6 adults and 11 children.

We had planned for the boys to spend the night in our tent but wound up with only three of them stayed out there all night. Saturday we visited my paternal grandmother, which we affectionately call Mamaw.

Mamaw lives in a nursing home. She always loves to see us when we visit. We took a couple of pictures while we were there.

Mamaw holding Elisabeth

After a nice visit with Mamaw, we visited my maternal grandmother, affectionately known as Mema (pronounced Me-maw).

Mema with her eldest great grandson and her youngest great grandson (my cousin’s baby born a month before Elisabeth).

We actually took a family picture with Mema just before Elisabeth was born. Now we need to take another.

Ruth’s birthday is 2 weeks after Joshua’s. She had a good birthday as well.

Ruth’s 12th Birthday cake.

Joshua went to a teen camp with the youth of my parents’ church during the week of Ruth’s birthday. Scott was still on vacation at the school so we celebrated her birthday all week. That Monday, I took all the girls antique shopping. We were looking specifically for tea cups. Both girls found a set they liked and a tea pot to go with it. We visited another store next door to the antique shop. Ruth and Hannah both found fancy umbrellas that they wanted. I’m not sure what possessed me to say, “yes” to buying them each a $27 umbrella but those umbrellas had better last them a lifetime. 🙂 That night we had tea in their new tea cups along with birthday cake.

A before picture of Ruth’s first professional hair cut.

Tuesday was Ruth’s actual Birthday. She wanted to go to a Build-A-Bear workshop. She wanted to buy her bear, Frosting, a husband. So we went to the Workshop where Ruth arranged her bear a marriage to a very kind and handsome bear she named Teddy. We bought both Teddy and Frosting a full wedding wardrobe.

Frosting and Teddy posing with Ruth’s birthday tea set.

They have been happily married 13 days now.

We had karate class that same evening. There is a tradition in our karate dojo that for our birthdays we get to spar everyone in class that day. Our instructor calls it “iron man” sparring. It was nice getting to spar again after not being able to for a year. I enjoyed it and kept having to remind people that I’m not pregnant anymore. 🙂 I think Ruth might have hoped it would be a smaller class. She’s not real fond of being in the spotlight. She did well though and at the end she said that she really liked her birthday.

Ruth in the process of her first “real” haircut.

Wednesday, we went to a Children’s Museum. There were a lot of educational activities for the kids. I want to take the kids back again where they can have even more time to go to all the exhibits.

Jonathan, Elijah, and Hannah in one of the exhibits at the museum.

After the museum, we went and visited our friends at a sister church in our fellowship. We always enjoy visiting them when we are able. This was the first time they got to see Elisabeth.

Thursday, I took Ruth to get her first professional haircut. I was about her age when my mom took me for my first haircut. We have a friend that goes to our Church that had gotten a new job in a nearby town as a beautician. I was excited to get our hair done at her salon. We were also able to enjoy visiting with her. We both like our hair and plan to go back again.

Ruth with our friend, Karli, who gave us both great haircuts.

We had so much going on this Summer that I’m way behind on blogging. I still plan to catch up but not everything will be in order. However I’m going to try to get everything recorded on here before summer is over.

Ruth looks so grownup with her new hair.

I’ll hopefully get another post done in a couple of days. So be sure to check back.

We are enjoyed our vacation. We don’t get to see Scott’s family very often. The last time we visited Michigan Elijah was just a few months old. That year Scott had gone to Thailand and I took the kids to Michigan while he was gone. Last Summer he wanted me to go with him.

We left on our vacation Monday night June 25th just as the sun was setting. The air conditioner isn’t working on our van, so we decided to take advantage of the sun being down. We planned to drive until we were too tired and then stop for the rest of the night. Scott was feeling good and awake and drove the whole night while I slept. Then as the sun rose, I took over driving while he slept.
Elijah is pretending to drive after one of our stops where he was the only child to wake up.
The kids slept fairly well in the van. We had to stop every 2 or 3 hours to feed Elisabeth.
We finally stopped that afternoon of the 26th at a hotel.

No, we decided not to stop at this hotel we saw. Although the kids did want to look inside it.

The hotel we did decide to stop at had an indoor swimming pool. The clerk gave us a real good price on two rooms. She has 5 biological children that are grown + 5 adopted children she is now raising. So she was very helpful. We got plenty of rest and were back on the road Wednesday afternoon, Joshua’s 14th birthday. We stopped at a gas station and Scott bought Birthday Candy Bars. I’ll need to do another blog later just for Joshua’s birthday.

Elisabeth in the hotel.

Jonathan and Elijah were so cute looking up at me at one of gas station stops.

Joshua turned 14 on this trip.

Scott’s mom, Judy, gets to hold Elisabeth for the first time. We gave Elisabeth the middle name Rose after Judy’s mother, Rosa Elizabeth.

“The girls”- My in-laws’ boxers.

We went to the beach of Lake Michigan and had a picnic with Grandma Judy.

Scott carried Elisabeth over to the beach area in the baby carrier we have. He said that it was a piece of cake. He could carry her like that for 9 months. 🙂 I’ve always teased him that I carried the baby for the first 9 months that he should get the next 9.

Judy enjoying some more grandma time holding Elisabeth while everyone ate.

Scott was showing his mom how the camera on my tablet works.

I wasn’t able to post a blog during the time we were in Michigan since I didn’t have a Wifi connection. This post is about the first half of our trip and this will have to make up for the post I missed. I’ll post another one tomorrow about the second half of our trip to count as this week’s post.

I will get caught up on all my posts soon. Then I’ll be back on track posting once a week. Please check back during the next few days as I play catch up.

This week Elisabeth turned 3 weeks old on Monday. She also had several firsts this week.

Sunday was Father’s day and I took these two pictures of Scott holding her.

Tuesday, I went potty seat shopping with Elijah while Scott stayed home with the kids. That was the longest Elisabeth has gone without me around. I knew she was in good hands. She slept the whole time we were gone and woke up right as we pulled into the driveway.

Today she had her first real bath. I bathed her in the kitchen and we took some pictures. She seemed to enjoy her bath. She didn’t cry at all and even smiled a time or two.

I laid a blanket on the kitchen table where I dried her off and put lotion on her. Then I dressed her, fed her, and then she was ready for her first outing with Daddy.

Scott took her to his work and showed her off to some of the secretaries and faculty that were there. She was all smiles for the camera. 🙂 And I got a bit of a break for a nice long shower.

Although, I did have to clean up a very dirty 2 year old when I got done. Potty training is a definite patience builder. Elijah’s a very intelligent boy and very articulate so I hope he catches on quickly.

Tomorrow, we will get to visit with my brother and his family who are visiting from France. We will be having a birthday party for Joshua. So I’ll be posting pictures of the rest of the kids in a few days.

Keep checking back. These next 2 months are full of activities.

Elisabeth is now 2 weeks old. I thought I would share some pictures of her first two weeks. They’ve been a busy two weeks. Time sure goes by fast when you’re having fun.

This picture is of Elisabeth in her first Sunday dress.

We arrived home on Wednesday evening of the week she was born. Saturday we took her to a family reunion and also stopped by to visit my grandmother.

Mema and Elisabeth

We took her to church that Sunday. I even had her in my Sunday School class. Elisabeth and I underwent some testing that first Sunday by Elijah. It was quite a change for him going from being the baby to being a big boy. He tested to see if I would still hold him in my lap while holding Elisabeth. He even tried to play “Ride ’em Horsies” during the preaching which I had to quiet him down from. I think we managed to pass the “does Mommy still love me and will she still make behave?” test. He behaved so much better for me the second Sunday.

Elisabeth’s first Sunday School class

Scott had to take a recertification class for driving the school bus during the week. Tuesday, I dressed Elisabeth up in her pink gi (karate uniform) and took the kids to karate class. I was told during my discharge from the hospital that I was not to diet nor exercise for a few weeks. I miss participating in karate class though. I’m looking forward to getting back at it.

Elisabeth in her karate uniform.

At Elisabeth’s one week doctor’s appointment, she had gained back some of her birth weight. She now weighs 9 lbs. After the doctor’s appointment I got the kids burgers, picked up Scott’s boots from being repaired, and took the kids to Elisabeth’s first trip to Wal-mart. After all that I was worn out! So Thursday we stayed home.

Friday, Scott had the day off. I always enjoy spending a day with my sweet husband home. Elisabeth likes hearing him play different instruments for her. He used to play for her before she was born by putting the end of his viola or guitar against my belly so she could hear and feel the vibrations. She loves listening to him play now as well.

Our karate class giving a demonstration at HEB.

Last Saturday, after our normal class we took our children to HEB to help with a demonstration for a health fair the store was having. Scott and I decided to let the older 3 children participate while we watched along with the younger 3 children.

After the demonstration we ate at our favorite Chinese restaurant which is run by a Christian family from Burma. We love the atmosphere at their restaurant and how they play Christian hymns and have the 10 commandments displayed where most Chinese restaurants would have a Buddha.
Joshua and Ruth performing a Kata for the karate demonstration.

Hannah performing her Kata at HEB

After we ate, we went to a mall. Scott got an upgrade on his cell phone. It took a while for the cell phone associates to get what he needed so I attempted to walk around the mall and find something fun for the kids to do. We walked the entire mall looking for a directory that actually had a map. There were only 2 maps we found in the whole mall. There were no toy stores to look at. There was one ride for $3.50 per person but I didn’t want to pay that for 5 kids. We did find a man that made balloon shapes for tips. I bought each of the kids balloons. Once we found our way back to the cell phone store, we found that they weren’t quite done yet. So we found a large unoccupied corner of the mall for the kids to play. I did decide that day that I had to find some better way to keep up with our 2 year old and 4 year old. Elijah’s little legs would get tired and whoever held his hand would wind up carrying him to keep up. And Jonathan would get loose from the hand holding his and he’d get distracted and not watch when we were ready to move on. We didn’t lose him too badly but I decided we needed a wagon or stroller for him and Elijah. We found and ordered one. I’ll post pictures of it in use when it arrives.

We arrived home to find our Sun Oven on the front porch. We were able to get it at a group price. It is a solar powered oven. We cooked hot dogs and baked potatoes in it on Sunday afternoon and it worked great. We decided that a solar powered oven might come in handy should we be faced with no electricity.

Our new Sun Oven

And I have to include Elisabeth’s second Sunday outfit. She was making faces and yawning while her picture was being taken. Baby yawns are contagious too.

Elisabeth’s Second Sunday

Now everyone probably has been curious about the title. Elijah calls Elisabeth “lusbif”. He was saying, “Here, Lusbif!” Over and over while handing me toys and papers that he intended to be given to her.

They all love to hold her and Elijah has learned to be careful with her. He is so sweet and proud sitting on the couch with his baby sister on his lap.
Well, that basically sums up these past couple of weeks. The summer will be busy and I’ll have a lot to post. Keep watching for more pictures.

Monday, May 28, at 11:28 a.m. our 6th blessing, Elisabeth Rose arrived weighing 9 lb. 6 oz. and measuring 21 in. long.

Sunday morning at around 4 a.m., I started having mild but calculable contractions. I waited 30 minutes timing them before I woke Scott. We waited a little longer and decided to wake the kids at 5 a.m. to head to the hospital. I had started shivering from nerves. We live an hour away from the hospital and even though we might get sent home we wanted to make sure whether or not I was in labor. They kept me for one hour. It turned out that I was not in active labor at that point. I was 4 cm. dialated and my cervix had not effaced much. They sent me home. The kids were disappointed that we left without the baby being born.

Our being sent home turned out to be a blessing. We made it back to the church in time for Sunday School. I wasn’t feeling very good but I was able to eat Fried Chicken for lunch. I was also able to take a 3 hour nap.

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We had our evening services and went home and got the kids to bed. I had a little trouble sleeping since I had slept 3 hours that afternoon. I took a shower since I feared that I wouldn’t get one the next morning.

Monday morning active labor woke me up around 7 a.m. Since I was asleep, it really snuck up on me. I was glad that Scott was off for Memorial Day, otherwise he would have been on a school bus when the hard contractions hit. I laid there to make sure it was really contractions.
Then I told Scott about it. I was glad that the kids had awakened on their own. They didn’t like being awakened at 5 a.m. on Sunday.
I called my parents to tell them this was it.

The kids ran to the car. I had to stop twice because of contractions as I left the house to get in the car. I was having to do controlled breathing as the contractions got stronger in the car. I wasn’t wanting to worry the kids. During that one hour drive I was serenaded by our 4 year old Jonathan singing “Are you washed in the blood of the lamb?” at the top of his lungs. I thought it was cute. That was the first time I’ve ever been sung for on my way to the hospital.

I told Scott that this time he needed to drop me off at the door instead of parking first. When I got to the labor and delivery room, I told the nurse that these were the real contractions. She skipped the normal monitoring room and put me in a regular delivery room. Scott came in having situated the kids in the waiting room.

They measured me and told me that I was 8 cm. dialated and 100% effaced. The nurse told Scott that I was having “monster” contractions. They asked me what my pain level was on a scale of 1 to 10. I told them I may have been mistaken about the number I gave on Sunday. I told them 7 then. I told them I’d give it a 9 reserving 10 for the moment they tell me not to push because the doctor hadn’t come. I didn’t have to worry though. The doctor on duty came immediately. She broke my water. I didn’t even realize she had. The doctor and nurse stepped out of the room and came right back. I told them I felt the baby low and they said I could push whenever I felt like it. When Scott said he could see hair I almost thought there was a mistake because our boys had hair and our girls were bald. But 3 hard pushes later, Elisabeth Rose was born. The last push is always the one I think I can’t do.

I had prayed that the Lord would allow me to have a quick delivery without intervention. My mom arrived at the delivery room just after the baby had come. She told me that she prayed that God would allow me to have as easy of a delivery as she had had with my sister. I thought it was interesting that Elisabeth even weighed the same as my sister did at birth. I had friends on Facebook praying for me. I even had one dear friend checking up with me through text messages. I told her that my greatest desire was to have the baby before Wednesday, when I was scheduled to be induced. She told me that she would pray for me in that. All the prayers were really appreciated. Elisabeth was born at the perfect timing.

Psalm 7:17 I will praise the LORD according to his righteousness: and will sing praise to the name of the LORD most high.

Yes, we’re still waiting. I’m beginning to have that “I’m going to be pregnant forever!” feeling. That probably means she’ll be coming soon. In the mean time, we are trying to stay busy.

There are still things that Scott has been fixing on our vans. Friday, he changed the oil on the white van. Jonathan and Elijah were very interested in why Daddy was lying on the ground. Elijah said, “Daddy sleeping?”

Scott then invited them to watch him change the oil. I had to take some pictures of our little guys learning from their daddy.

They drained the oil and replaced the oil filter.

Then Elijah got bored and commenced to wondering around the yard playing with one of Scott’s ratchets.

Jonathan was taking his job of helping Daddy seriously though. Scott showed him how to pour the oil.

Then Elijah held my hand to protect me from getting hit by the van, while Jonathan helped Scott back the van off the ramps.

Then Elijah and I sat inside the van and watched them check all the fluid levels.

After they finished, I drove the van to vote on the last day of early voting and then went to the store and did a little shopping. While I was out and about, Scott worked on our big van and Jonathan helped him replace some spark plugs.

I enjoyed doing a little last minute shopping. I had a few funny moments. Scott asked me to pick up some castorol for the van. I thought he was saying castor oil. I think I will just let the car have that. I’m not quite that desperate for the baby to come.

Then I went to the grocery department and got two gallons of milk, I arrived at the check out and realized I grabbed two different brands of milk. I decided to just pay the extra dollar not to have to go to the back of the store again.

Finally, I was checking out and the friendly older cashier started telling about her daughter that was a huge 8 lb baby. I just smiled and said, “Wow!” I like letting people enjoy their bragging rights. Just because my babies tend to be big doesn’t make other babies small.

Well, it’s very late right now but I wanted to publish this before bed. It’s been a busy day. I’ve been having contractions and got sent home from the hospital today. Maybe we will have more happen after I wake up. Hope my next post will be filled with baby pictures.

We had to get up early this morning to go to my weekly appointment. The kids did really well getting ready and were excited because we were going in the big van.

I was glad that Scott was able to go with us for my last appointment before my due date. He even fixed the windshield wipers on our van before we left and I took this picture of the kids while he washed his hands.

My appointment went well. I measured one centimeter smaller than last week on my fundel height which my doctor said was probably because the baby has dropped a little. She did say that we don’t want to go more than a week past my due date. She has to schedule inductions in advance. If the baby doesn’t come on her own, I’m scheduled to be induced on Wednesday, May 30. I am praying that she’ll be born before then.

We had our tires replaced this past weekend and today we were able to stop by there on our way home to get the lug nuts tightened. I took this picture of Scott and the kids last Saturday, staring through the window at our van. It reminded me of a nursery window in a hospital. I only had enough batteries on my phone to take one picture. Jonathan and Elijah are hidden behind Joshua and Ruth in this picture.

The countdown has begun for our baby’s arrival. Pray with me that she comes swiftly and soon.

I finally feel like I’ve got everything ready for the baby’s arrival. I have my hospital bag packed, set the bassinet up, and took our 9 month family picture. Now we are just in waiting mode. Here are some of the pictures we took today.

We have a tradition with every new baby we take a pregnant family picture. I was afraid that our tradition would have to change as the kids got older but they were all in a goofy mood tonight and had a blast seeing who could have the biggest belly. I think Elijah won on the cutest belly since they stuck a baby doll in his shirt. That’s the baby dolls head sticking out the top. I love the grin on his face.

I also had Scott take this picture of just me and Elisabeth tonight. I really think the family picture is more fun though. 🙂

And finally a picture of the bassinet which I put up today. I’m glad I got it done. When they said “some assembly required”, they really meant it. It really wasn’t too bad to put together. It would have been frustrating though if we had to put it together last minute.

We’re playing the waiting game. There is so much going on this next couple of weeks. I would really like to be able to go to all the activities. My dad will be graduating from seminary with his doctorates degree next Saturday. We also received a birthday party invitation for next Saturday. Then the following Saturday is a family reunion that I would really like to go to.

With all these upcoming activities, I’m really curious when our baby will come. My doctor told me not to go more than 1 hour away from the hospital. We live an hour away!

I’m trying not to be nervous about it though. I really think things will go smoothly when the time comes. Right now, all we have to do is just hurry up and wait!

Tuesday was a busy and fun day for me and the kids. We started the day off with my doctor’s appointment. The kids really like the new location of the doctor’s office. I actually like it too. I have 4 less red lights to go through at the new location. Saves me a few minutes even though it is basically not very far from where it used to be.

When my doctor checked for the baby’s heartbeat, Elisabeth started kicking and moving. I told my doctor that if it were up to the baby she’d just go ahead and crawl out. 🙂

For those that understand the numbers, my fundel height is 40 cm. I am 2 cm dialated and 70% effaced.

I’m not going to get too hopeful until I’m around 4 cm dialated. I was turned away from the hospital with false labor 2 or 3 times with Elijah. So I’ll probably be skeptical this time around and think I’m having false labor and it be real labor. If that does happen at least it should go quick once we make the hour drive to the hospital.

After the doctor’s appointment, I took the kids to the park for our homeschool park day. I had forgotten about the water park being turned on and didn’t have the kids bring extra clothes to change into. I did earn bonus points toward mother of the year for letting them play in the water anyway.

After the park, we went home, started a load of laundry and then I just relaxed a little bit before Scott arrived home from work. Then I got ready to go to our homeschool group’s Moms’ Night Out where they were having a baby shower for Elisabeth.

Here I am pictured with my friend, Jennifer who was our hostess for the evening. We had a fabulous taco dinner followed by delicious cake for dessert. There were about 16 ladies plus two babies present as we gathered in Jennifer’s living room.

Elisabeth and I received so many beautiful clothes and accessories. Pictured above is a beautiful dress that one of the young ladies had sewn for Elisabeth.

Another mother had made me a beautiful nursing cover. Out of 6 children this is the first time I have actually owned a real nursing cover. I have always just covered up with a blanket. I’m looking forward to getting to try it out with Elisabeth.

I also received a new diaper bag and a good supply of diapers, baby wipes, baby soaps, shampoos, and lotions. I always appreciate having a good supply of diapers.

I also received a mother care package of bath salt, lotions, and potpourri.

Then after opening the gifts, I enjoyed getting to visit with all the other mothers. I think that is what I enjoy most about our Mom’s Nights. I love sharing stories and listening to other moms tell about what they’ve been doing or have done.

Now I’ve gotten most all of Elisabeth’s clothes washed and put away. I can’t wait to dress her up in all the beautiful clothing we’ve received. Our other two daughters are wanting to put all the outfits on her in one day. I can kind of understand. It will be hard to pick out just one outfit to bring her home in. Then we’ll have to pick out which of all the beautiful dresses to bring her to church in on her first Sunday at church.

Only 2 more weeks until my due date! I’m continuing to exercise 3 days a week at our karate class, although much slower now. It’s hard not to give up and just sit out the whole hour and a half. However I know it’s good for me. I’m sure by continuing to do as much as I can in class will help the delivery to be easier, so I keep on trying. I’m hoping that with the extra exercise, I’ll have Elisabeth closer to her due date and won’t have to be induced.

Now I just need to get my nesting instinct to kick in and start packing my bag for the hospital. 🙂