It Has Been A While...

..And this is why. We welcomed our sweet number eight, Thomas Everett, on March 9th. He is perfectly perfect and I am spending a lot of time enjoying all of the newborn snuggles.

Back to School

The kids were so super excited. We had a very nice ten week summer, but the kids were ready to be back seeing their friends and being back on our very comfortable school year routine. This year, we celebrated Libby starting kindergarten. Anne started this school year at a new preschool and has loved every minute meeting new friends!

A Little Late

Our 35lb Bulldog turned two July 13th. He rocks our world, but is the coolest little boy that walks (or runs) the earth.

Shut Your Mouth When You're Talking to Me

Meg's favorite line from mother's who find out we have seven children...

"I don't know how you do it! I can't even handle my one (or two, or three, or four)!".

Who admits to a total stranger that they can't handle their own children? So my favorite response to this comment is....

"I'm sorry to hear that".

I just wonder why people say that. Makes them appear silly.

Family Pride

T.P Barnett Co

Architects

One of the many, many building in St. Louis designed by my great, great, great grandfather.

Fun at the St. Louis Zoo

Have I ever mentioned that we have, by far, the best Zoo in the country?? Well, we do. It's free and it's beautiful and our city pours a lot of money into it. It's an amazing place where children can learn, abd explore, and have a lot of fun with the endless exhibits. There is a bit of family history at the St. Louis Zoo on my side of the family, so it is an extra special place for us. Needless to say, Dan and I had such a fabulous time with our three youngest this morning. (Have you all figured out that Evan just loves water?!)

Eleven Years....

Dan and I celebrated eleven years of marriage on June 9th. The past few weeks have been so busy that our anniversary sneaked up on us quickly. What can I say? There are seven children in our house, life moves pretty quickly. Just adding some some pics of the kiddos with this post. After all, they wouldn't be here without Dan and I having a strong, loving marriage.

This Little Girl of Ours....

She's something else, isn't she?! Libby just had her first dance recital on June 3, 2011. She has been taking dance lessons for nine months, and Friday was her big night. As you can see, our pretty little girl just glowed. She did such a fabulous job on stage. She sang and danced her little heart out. Dan and I are so proud of her.

She has grown up so much over the past year. Libby just finished her last year of preschool. She just had her kindergarten screening where she placed in the 95%. She has many good friends, is loved by all, and has this special spark about her.

She is something special, and we know one day in her own way, will really make a difference in this world.

O'Barry Rules!!

Family Fun at Norwood Hills Country Club

Mama Said There Would be Days Like This....

So, this week, Libby found a pair of scissors and not only cut her beautiful long hair, but also Anne's hair and cut some of the little hair that Max had on top of his head.

(Meg was out running errands when this happened).

So, after two haircuts, over $50, and ten inches of Libby's beautiful hair gone, she now has a sweet short cut. Which will take me some time to get used to, I'm not a huge fan of short hair on little girls.

The Things Kids Say...

Libby: "Well, it looks as if I'm allergic to alligators".

Meg and Dan: Totally speechless.

Run Meg, Run

A friend of mine talked me into running a 5k with her this June.

I know, OMG.

And no, I have no idea what I was/am thinking, but if anything, it's an awesome excuse to get back in shape (and fast) and support a good cause with a bunch of good friends.

So, I went to Walgreen's and picked up a Fitness magazine. Like that is going to help, but it's motivation, I guess.

Here goes nothing.....

Snow Angels

My Kid is Cooler than Your Kid

About All I Can Say Is.....

B*L*A*H.

Let me start off by saying that life is wonderful and the kiddos are wonderful. Life with seven children isn't any different than life with six. Max is an awesome baby, so wonderful and snuggly.

I've decided that I hate the general public. If one more person asks how we 'handle' seven children or assume that I am overwhelmed with seven children, I will kick them square in the teeth. Sure, it's a lot of work. No, I don't get a lot of time to myself, but I missed the part of me complaining about anything like that.

Christmas was awesome. We celebrated with a white Christmas this year, which doesn't happen very often, so it was special and beautiful.

So here is the blah part. I go back to work on Monday. I am a little torn over it. I miss my friends and being out of the house, but I will miss my kids dearly. It's a good thing I am only working part time.

And, since everybody is so interested and concerned, I thought I would be the first to let everyone know that for the time being, no more babies. I have 50 pounds to lose (two pregnancies worth of weight). Yes, that is about the only reason. I am not sure what the future holds, but for now, we will enjoy every aspect of the seven fabulous children.

Tis The Season....

It gets crazier and crazier every year!

Meet Max

It's been a while. Life is always busy.

Max arrived on November 7, 2010 at 5:28pm after just a two hour labor and delivery. It was a really strange handful of events that happened right around his birth.

Three days before his induction date, I went in for a routine visit and ultrasound. We found that Max was breech. I was so upset. I'm not against csections, but I had 6 deliveries without one stitch anywhere, so this news was a bit difficult for me to process. I was a bit stressed. My ob agreed to try a version on the baby's induction date and if the version worked, start the induction after that. If the version didn't work, we would go ahead with the csection. I prepared myself for the section.

On Sunday the 7th, we arrived at the hospital at 2:30pm. One of the residents came in to do a quick ultrasound to check his position. To our surprise, Max was head down! The nurse came in and put on monitors and fifteen minutes later, she runs back in the room and says, "did you know that you are contracting every three minutes?". To which i responded, "No, I had no idea". She checked to see if I was dilated and an even bigger surprise was that i was dilated to five. The nurse was shocked that I was walking around 5cm dilated and contracting q3 min and had no idea. I didn't have any pain. That all happened at 3:30pm, Max was born tow hours later.

Maxwell Joseph

11/7/10

1728

7lbs 12oz, 20 inches

And he is an angel. Another wonderful, beautiful addition to our family.

Not Enough Time...

...To get everything ready for Seven.

Seven will be here the day after Jack's 10th birthday. So that gives me this weekend to get everything set ready for his arrival.

Dan's mother is coming into town over Halloween weekend, and the following weekend is Jack's birthday, so those two weekends are out.

Reality is, there isn't that much to get ready for. I washed his clothes and the girls helped us set up the new bassinet. The only things left to do are get the new car seat installed and put together and pack my bag.

The kids are super excited. The girls ask everyday when he is coming. The big boys said they are going to babysit and teach him how to play baseball.

It's just so hard to believe that in a few short weeks, there will be FIVE boys in our house. How awesome is that?!

Emotional Distress...

Sometimes, I have the worst job in the world. A job that is sometimes so stressful, it keeps me awake at night and gives me anxiety.

I work on a Women's Health floor at a hospital. We care for women of all ages and stages in their lives. We care for mostly c-section mom's, hysterectomy's, all kinds of repair work. If a procedure can be preformed on a woman, we get it.

We also care for mom's who have suffered IUFD (late term). You never get used to it. And really, there's no way to cope with it. These are good people ready to welcome a new baby into their families. Sometimes, there are reasons for the losses-cord accidents or genetic issues. But sometimes, there isn't a reason for the loss at all. It's devastating beyond words.

They come in spurts. We are in the middle of one right now. We have seen twelve in the past two weeks. That is a lot.

I can't care for these patients right now for obvious reasons, but I know they are there. Counting my own baby's kicks makes me anxious. Sometimes, I'm convinced that I will lose my own son. I can't sleep, it's hard to function throughout the day. Because of this, I haven't really done a thing to get ready for his arrival.

I have a list of things to buy for him. I look at it every day, telling myself that I will get it all accomplished a week before his arrival. Reality is, I probably won't get everything ready until the day before my induction date. That is about my comfort zone right now.

I am just feeling as if I can't get attached until he is hopefully here safe and sound.

Makes you sick, doesn't it?

Finally!

Lucky #7 finally has a name!!

...But I will never tell (unless you are family and in that case, you already know!)