because she's 14~

Anna and I in the airport on our DC trip to do the historical thing 

as well as help out with a rally for 

Hope Again International.

In case anyone wanted proof that my oldest daughter is not an unsocialized homeschooler a very normal teenager, well here you go.  Unless of course you think these actually prove the first point, then nevermind.  

everly baby~

Evelyn Rose

Everly Baby

Sweet Little Evs

Some people think younger children in larger families

get left out and overlooked.

I would beg to differ.

I wonder sometimes if it's possible to be loved to death.

One would be hard pressed to find a baby more doted on than you.

You have your own personal fan club.

It's not hard to see why.

I often think that you of the most-heard phrases around here is,

"You are SO cute."

And I think your two oldest brothers say it most of all.

Early in the morning and after naptime

it is often heard,

"Is Everly awake yet?

Can I get Everly up?"

My precious, sweet girl.

My heart.

You are growing up so fast.

Nine months already.

You've now been out longer than you were in.

Today you pulled up for the first time.

I think this is a record for our family.

Two teeth, pulling up,

where has the time gone?

This Mama's heart aches while delighting in your sweetness.

Your uncle has said that by looking at you one can tell you are just nice.

I hadn't thought of it like that before,

but he is right.

You are full of sweetness and light.

You have such a purity about you.
All one has to do is look at you and smile

and your face lights up with genuine joy.
You are so happy.

My heart is full.

How can I be so blessed?

The Father only gives good gifts,

and you,

sweet Evelyn, 

are a delightful treasure.

You are so loved. 

the birth of everly ~

Wow, it's been awhile since I've done one of these.  Everly's birth was kind of non-dramatic and I just realized I hadn't written about it!  Seeing as how I want to remember all the details it's pretty long.  Fair warning.

I've re-hashed the whole early baby/late baby thing numerous times here, so suffice it to say that when you've had five approximately two-week-early babies, one exactly-on-time baby, and one 15 day late baby that you just don't really know what to expect.  I was particularly uncomfortable at the end of this pregnancy (and bored, SO bored) that I was really hoping she would be early.  She must have been awfully comfy in there because I now have two late babies.  At least it was only three days and not fifteen.  Whew.

To start at the beginning, I just didn't have it in me for a home birth this time.  I didn't feel peaceful about it at all.  Haven and Grace were both 9 1/2 lbs (at 15 days late and 13 days early, respectively) and they were both posterior.  You can read about their births here and here.   Not only were they hard physically (especially Haven's, his was pretty dramatic involving zero pushing stage and being born in the caul) but especially mentally.  My midwife was and is amazing, getting both of them to turn during labor, but it made for long, uncomfortable labors.  I have diastasis pretty badly which I believe contributed to them being posterior and in the event Everly was going to also be posterior I wanted the option of an epidural.  So I went back to my ob that delivered my first three children and initially referred me to my midwife.  I'm so glad I did.  It was a great experience.  And what is up with having THREE 9 1/2 lb babies in a row?  Seriously??

Everly's pregnancy was hard.  I don't think I'd call it my hardest, but it was tiring.  My indigestion was worse than ever before (not that anyone cares, but I'm writing all this done for posterity's sake  :). )  I did all my regular freezer cooking and nesting and by about two weeks prior to her due date I was ready.  Alas, she was not.  So I sat there.  For two weeks.  Wondering if today was the day.  It *was* the beginning of the school year so I had some stuff to occupy me, but I had planned it light not knowing when little Evelyn Rose would make her appearance so it wasn't too big of a deal.  I was so bored.  SO bored.  But I resisted the offers of my doctor to induce me whenever I would like.  He said he was just trying to help me not have to birth another big baby.  I said thanks, but no thanks.  Those first few minutes and hours of realizing it's finally happening are priceless.  Definitely worth waiting for.  It's my favorite part of pregnancy pretty much.  So exciting.

My due date, Thursday, 15 September, came and went.  I remember posting on facebook on Friday night how odd it felt to be waiting to pick up my two oldest kids from a youth group event while being overdue with another sweet baby.  I definitely never imagined I'd be having babies when I had kids in youth group!

On Saturday I had made plans with my aunt to have lunch and go see The Help.  I had secret thoughts of going into labor during the movie but was mentally staying prepared for another very late baby.  We had a great lunch at Red Lobster and then headed to the theatre.  Sure enough, about halfway through I realized I was having some contractions.  Yes!  I discreetly checked my phone and realized that from the onset they were every ten minutes apart.  So I texted Glen and was so content sitting there with my little secret.  When the movie was over I promptly went to the restroom where I discovered that it was definitely the real thing.  I informed my aunt who was going to be the one to keep our kids that she should probably go home and be on call.  She lived with my great aunt and took care of her so we had made plans that my sister Kristen and her husband would come over if it was during the night and my aunt and great aunt would come out in the morning.

I stopped by the store to grab some stuff, went home, did laundry, straightened up, and told the kids.  My contractions pretty much quit while I was moving around but I was losing my mucous plug so I knew things were moving along.  I also realized that she was posterior (she had been anterior up until the last couple of weeks) so I figured it would be another long-ish labor.  I actually really felt that she was more sideways and had mentioned this to my doctor.

(In hindsight I should have known.  That Sunday was our church's day at a nearby YMCA camp which is super fun.  The kids had been looking forward to it all year and I had said so many times that unless we were actually having a baby on. that. very. day. that we would go.  Uh huh.  We had a baby that day.  Poor kids. They took it well.  At least it was raining and they didn't miss out on too much.)

The kids went to bed, Glen and I watched a movie and then went to bed.  I think I slept for about an hour.  My contractions were getting stronger and closer together.  I didn't want to call my sister or wake up Glen because I just wasn't quite ready to be that official yet.  So I sat in the tub and was beginning to have to really breathe through contractions and was having alternating thoughts of wanting to just stay in the tub and thinking I need to get to the hospital so I can get an epidural already.  I should have realized that was a pretty clear sign to go.  Thankfully Glen realized it and said we should probably go.  Not that the birth was imminent or anything but after Haven's literal falling out I think he's just a little nervous.  :)

So we headed to the hospital.  The triage nurse asked (in my opinion kind of disbelieving, like she gets women in all the time "thinking" they are in labor) if I *thought* I was in labor.  I was thinking, "Lady, this is my eighth baby.  Trust me, I'm in labor."  But I just smiled and said that yes, I thought I probably was.  She soon discovered I was about six-seven centimeters so that earned me a trip upstairs to labor and delivery.

Let me back up and say that I was super nervous about having a hospital birth.  Ethan was my last hospital birth and he is about to be ten.  Since then I've become (mostly) anti-vaccine and anti-intervention and I had a lot of concern over how that was going to go down.  After lots of asking questions on facebook I really felt the Holy Spirit telling me to just trust the Father, to pray for favor, and to not worry.  So I did that and was able to quit obsessing.

So when I got to the hospital and they gave me the hospital gown I told them I would really prefer to wear my own clothes.  And they were totally fine with it.  Totally.  They were understanding, accepting, and even sometimes downright supportive of my preferences.  I am so thankful to have had no issues whatsoever.  The only thing was that they insisted on giving her a bath in the nursery and keeping her under the lights for an hour.  I wasn't okay with that.  I thought I could keep her just as warm and I had visions of her lying there hungry and crying and them refusing to bring her to me until the hour had passed.  So we just declined the bath and no problem.

Anyway, when I got upstairs we went through the general questions and of course all the comments about Everly being number eight.  They know my midwife there and I think they found it humerous that I really just wanted a hospital birth for the epidural.  So they got me hooked up and I remember just lying there in the very early morning hours (I had prayed to go into labor and make the trip to the hospital at night, I just love it that way.  It just feels so secret-ish.) watching the contractions growing longer and closer and peaking on the monitor and thinking, "Thank You, Jesus, for epidurals."  True story.  I said it numerous times.  I was dead serious, too.  I did have a moment of pride when the nurse told me I was a good 7 (before the epidural) and asked if I always acted like nothing was really going on when I was at 7.  Ha.  Made me feel good even though I was being a weenie about it this time around.

The night passed and as morning came I began to be in a lot of pain.  Like I-may-as-well-have-been-at-home kind of pain.  The epidural. guy had to come back like four times.  I was having significant pain very low in the front *and* back which was new to me.  I can only imagine what that would have felt like completely sans epidural and at home.  I think I really believe that's why I needed to go to the hospital this time.

Finally they got me dosed up and then it was time.  Yay!  I had been concerned about possibly having to push out a posterior baby.  Susie (the midwife) was always able to get them to turn but I knew with an epidural and laboring just sitting in the bed that I couldn't count on that happening.  But I am glad to say that aside from the whole no-pushing thing with Haven it was by far my easiest pushing stage.  Five minutes.  Tops.  I think three pushes.  SO easy.  I did need a couple of stitches but it wasn't a big deal.  And she came out sideways.  That's what the doctor said.  Sideways.  That explains the pain in the front AND back, I think.

She was and is perfect.  Aside from my particularness  (is that a word?) the rest of the visit was normal and we were allowed to leave the next morning.  I spent a good amount of time worrying that first night about how I was going to decline having my blood drawn the next morning (I didn't feel it was necessary and WHY do they always come in at like 4:30am???) but when the tech came in I groggily said, "I"m declining having my blood drawn," and she gave me a quizzical look, turned around and left.  No one ever said anything about it.  I think they knew I just wanted to have my baby and be left alone.  :)

So that's it.  The birth of little Evs.  Life since then had been anything *but* my typical new baby adjustments but that story is for another time.

Welcome to the world, sweet Everly.  We are so glad you are here.  You are perfect, and you were born at just the right time.

my grace girl~

My sweet Grace girl.  A little more girly-girl than the other girls were; maybe that's why it seems different.  A 12:15am post isn't really adequate to encompass Grace in all her Grace-ness, but these few photos are a pretty good summary.  She can go from sweet baby girl to mischevious to karate chopping to hilariously fun in about two seconds and I absolutely love that about her.  She is fully confident in doing her own thing but she and Haven are also two peas in a pod for sure.  And yes, everyone here still thinks she is sooo cute despite having a little competition lately.  Two and half years later and I could still eat her up.  She's my "babes."  I just...there are no words.  

sweet two year old birthday

"Us?  We haven't been doing anything.  Really!"

"Ichi, ni, san shi.
Check out the awesome karate moves, people."

"I'm ready for church, are you?
It's July?  Your point?"
(yes I took her like this and yes it was awesome)



She likes to watch "woovies."

She calls Everly "Little Evs" and says, "Aw, she's sooo coote."

She wants "chocate milk" first thing in the morning
(but please don't tell her I just put a tiny bit of powder)

She wants to "swuggle" every night before Dad puts her in bed.

She always wants to "pway games" on the phone.

She can dance like nobody's business.
~ thank you, Kristen and Trevor  :)

She's quite entertaining to do laundry with
as she likes to tell you exactly who every item belongs to.

She says, "Caweb, Etan, Riah."

She knows exactly what she wants to wear
(as evidenced above.)

She could cut paper all day long and apparently
has amazing fine motor skills
since she can turn one piece into about a thousand as she sits and cuts each piece with the utmost precision.

And last for this evening, but not least,
she and Haven are so sweet together.
As soon as they are reunited after class at church
they hug and give each other pictures.
And Haven almost always saves part of his snack for her.
Super sweet.


Two year olds are awesome.

little evs~

Introducing...

Evelyn Rose

"Everly"

18 September 2011

10:53 AM

9# 8oz

What a little sweetie she is. Sometimes when I snuggle her up under my chin I am so overcome.

My heart is full. She is so precious.

a bit of news~

Anyone on facebook has experienced the obsession with coming up with clever status updates. (Unless you haven't. Then I will feel stupid. Please tell me I'm not the only one.)

I will confess I spent a bit of time wondering what I would say on facebook when (if) we found out we were pregnant again.

I don't know...*is* eight enough? (Remember the old tv show?)

Announcing that developmental plans are in the works for Hutchison model #8, set to debut in September 2011.

So, wondering if the pattern will hold...

That was definitely two pink lines.

Honestly I was in a state of shock so the only one I could come up with at the time was the pattern. I didn't even announce it the same day but that was still all I could come up with. People caught on right away though. So funny. I don't know any other family that has a pattern going on like we do, so we'll see. Actually, we kind of "need" to fulfill two patterns. With conflicting genders. While our immediate family pattern is girl, boy, boy, girl, boy, boy, girl... Glen's extended family has girls born in groups of three. We have Grace, my sweet sister in law Elizabeth is having her first girl after five boys, so we really need another girl to keep that pattern going. ;) I actually have a solution for that that doesn't involve twins.

In related news....

I mentioned I was in a bit of shock when I found out I was pregnant again. Silly? Probably so. I had thought if I were going to be pregnant that I would be able to find out at Christmas. The kids have been saying they really want to have another baby so I thought I'd do a test on Christmas so we could tell them then if I was. In theory, I should have been able to have a positive test then, but I didn't. It was negative. So I just put the thought out of my mind. Even though I felt the Lord had told me I would be pregnant in December. But more on that later. It didn't occur to me until last week that I was pretty late. So I got a test out of my Dollar Tree stash (doesn't everyone have a pregnancy test stash?) and when it turned positive I proceeded to use the other three tests as well as having Glen pick up another two pack of tests on the way home. (Please tell me I'm not the only one who requires at least four tests in order to believe it's real...)

I'm kind of making light about this, but the reason I was in a bit of shock is actually quite important. To just lay it out there, Glen and I had just begun the process of adopting a little girl in Eastern Europe that has down syndrome. I hope to do a whole post on it soon (famous last words) but there is so much there that I don't really want to bog this post down with it. Suffice it to say that it was a somewhat sudden decision (we had adoption in the back of our minds and had almost moved on it a few years ago right before we found out we were pregnant with Haven) but it wasn't currently on the horizon. Or so we thought. Until we learned of an organization called Reece's Rainbow. I'll write more on them separately as well, but we had sponsored a little girl in their Christmas Angel Tree program and right at Christmas Glen and I both very strongly felt like the Lord was leading us to move forward in adopting her. The way it came about is really amazing to us and I cannot describe to you how my heart immediately opened to her like one of my own children. I know there are a lot of problems with the "rescue mentality" in adoption and while I understand that, when it comes to the Reece's Rainbow kids and others like them, there is most definitely an element of "rescue" to it. I'm not educated enough to talk about it much, but I will provide some details in a follow up post.

So needless to say, finding out I was pregnant was a bit of a shock. We had taken a pretty big first financial step but now we are finding out that the pregnancy is going to quite possibly put those plans on hold. I'm going to be really honest when I say this has been extraordinarily difficult for me. I never really understood what it was to wrestle with God. And while I know many people are in much more difficult "wrestlings" that doesn't negate my feeling like I've been ripped apart emotionally. I have worked through quite a bit of it, but every time I get some new information that takes us closer to having to wait and further away from this precious little one I feel like a wound is being ripped open. I have walked in sweet relationship with the Father long enough to know I can absolutely, one hundred percent trust Him and His plan and that His ways are higher than mine and He sees the big picture while I do not. But that doesn't make it feel much better.

So while I very much rejoice at the new little life He is giving us, a part of my heart is grieving for a little girl worlds away that is going to possibly have to wait a while longer for her family. And part of that grief is the knowledge that it may not actually be in the Lord's big picture for us to be her family. And while I most definitely want His will for her life to be accomplished, a part of me is sad to think that might look different than what I desire. I know He doesn't make mistakes, and I know He has a plan for both of these little ones' lives, I just wish I could see the whole thing. Right now would be good.

Sorry this sounds like such a downer update. My emotions are still really just kind of raw feeling and all over the place. But we are very much excited at the idea of a new baby. And a 2 1/2 year gap between kids? Whatever are we going to do? ;)

merry christmas~

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

I know the photo is blurry; but as is the story of my entire year 

I don't really have time to try and figure out how to fix it

so it's just going to have to be the thought that counts  :)

Feel free to click through to see a better version!

(and thank you to the amazing lillian b photography for our first ever family photos...we love them!)

in which i confess to weenie camping~

I used to be a camping snob.  In kind of a backwards way.  I thought unless you tent camped, you weren't really camping.  You know, you were just weenie camping.  That was back when I only had six children  ;)

Then, I got pregnant with Grace, and had a pretty serious hemhorrage while I was pregnant.  I was released back to "light to normal" activity right as fall was beginning, but somehow tent camping with six kids and being pregnant didn't sound quite like something I should be doing.  

Enter the pop up.  It was great.  Not super weenie like those mini-condo RVs.  It still fell under the category of "roughing it."  Sort of.  I still suffered minor twinges of guilt when I would tell people we liked to camp.  But gee, traveling in general with a pile of kids is not exceptionally easy, add to that preparing meals, dealing with laundry, etc. in an outdoor setting and I still felt that we qualified.  At least a bit.

So for the past year and a half we camped in the pop up.  And the best part was that while we used to only camp twice a year, we suddenly started camping almost once a month except for during the winter.  Camping is super great for family time, and probably the best part for me is that I don't feel like I should be doing something.  I can be lazy  relax.

So when this Spring began we started looking ahead.  We really enjoyed going somewhere every month, but we really wanted to go further.  As in the mountains.  I've never been West.  (Unless you count that layover in Texas when I went on a mission trip to Mexico.  I guess technically I've been West, but an airport in Dallas doesn't really count.  In my opinion, anyway.)  But the pop up takes awhile to set up and even longer to pack back down, so it wasn't really a viable option for a multiple stop trip.  So we sold it.  For a lot more money than we bought it for, actually, which was definitely a bonus.  And then we started watching craigslist for (gasp) a camper.  After some waiting we found one that just happened to be listed by a guy Glen has done some work for.  So he gave us a great deal.  

So now we have a travel trailer.  As in one with a kitchen, and two sets of bunk beds, and a pull out sofa, and a separate "room" for Glen and me.  And the table makes into a bed too!  But guess what!  It's big enough that we don't even have to take down the table at bedtime, we can leave it up the entire time!  Trust me, when you've been trying to get 9 people to bed in a space where you can hardly squeeze past each other this is a Very Big Deal.  We even have enough room to just hang out and play games if it's rainy.  I can wash dishes, cook an actual meal, and we can even leave the pack and play set up.  And it has a bathroom with a shower.  This is also a Very Big Deal when you have lots of little people needing to potty.  Trust me.

Since it's so big, we wanted to take it somewhere close by the first time to make sure we didn't get stuck  didn't crash into anyone  weren't going to end up in a ditch  Glen could handle it easily.  So this past weekend we went to a campground about an hour away that's right on a lake.  My sister even stopped by one night.  It was lovely.  Beautiful weather, and we were right by the playground and swimming area.  I lost track of how many Scrabble Slap, Chess, and Uno games I played.  Grace and I even took a nap on the beach by the lake.  And we didn't even crash into anything.

So there.  I confess.  We are now full fledged weenie campers.  And I don't care one little bit.  You can make fun of me.  I can take it.  :)

What are you doing this summer?

and she turns 1~

My Dearest Grace,


Has it really been a year?  How can that be?  Wasn't it just yesterday you were a newborn baby snuggled up in softness with sleepy eyes and tiny clentched fists?  Delighting me with sweet baby yawns and sighs.  Don't you know your Mama's heart relishes your baby-ness?  Don't you know you're supposed to grow up slower than other babies?  Oh, how thankful I am that you are a snuggler.  And even though I enjoy a good nights' sleep, there is something precious about snuggling and nursing in those sleepy dark hours.  There really is.

You are such a delight to us.  Do you know how many requests I have to turn down from your brothers and sisters to please wake you up early in the morning?  Every day you're like a new gift.  You bring us countless smiles and indescribable joy.  You are such a sweet, happy baby.  We love seeing your face and eyes light up when someone walks in the room.  We love watching you bounce up and down with excitement when someone comes to play with you.  And even though you are just now beginning to show signs of trying to crawl, we're not worried.  That's how your brothers and sisters have been too.  It's a great adventure to set you down and see how far you can scoot yourself  :)


Children are a blessing.  Blessed  is the man whose quiver is full.  We know it.  Without a doubt. We live it every day.  We are so thankful for you.  We are so thankful you are here with us when you might not have been.  Every day we thank the Father for the wonderful gift of Grace.  You are sweet, and beautiful, and such a delight.


We love you, Precious Girl.  Sweet Baby Grace.

the big snow of 2010~

I thought I may as well do a little catching up on what's been going on; other than my internal wrestlings, that is  :)   After all, I did intend for this to be a record of our life to look back on.

In January we had a big snow.  Or maybe February.  I can't actually remember.  All my days tend to run together.  Anyway, it was rare for where we live.  We only get a snow like this every five years or so.  It was perfect.  The first day it was nice and fluffy.  Great for throwing and making snow angels.  That night it iced over and so the next day it was super hard and crunchy.  Awesome for sledding (and for letting Glen be stuck at home!)   As it melted over the following days it was perfect for building snowmen.  It was absolutely wonderful.  Where we live is kind of up on a hill, so when it snows we are often stuck for several days, even after the rest of the world goes back to normal.  I will freely admit the highlight for me of snow days is Glen being home.  It's so nice feeling like all you can do is be lazy and spend time together.   Ahh....forget work, forget school....

We have an incredible place for sledding.  From this view you go down a fairly steep hill and the snow was packed just right so that you picked up plenty of speed to continue back up the other side.  It was great.

Glen and I even took a few turns. 

 Yes, I  know I look stupid, but I hate being cold.  :)

Grace thought she'd participate too   :)

Glen got the next to last sled from the hardware store, and then he came home and the kids started trying to sled before the snow even started!  A couple of days later he built a seven person sled, but he was the only one strong enough to drag it back up the hill.

I'm sure all you folks that live further north find this somewhat amusing, but for us it was a big deal.  I could use a couple of big snows every winter  :)