An Update

Wow! I cannot believe it has been almost one month since Gabriella's birth. Times are flying and she is growing, growing, growing whether I like it or not... and trust me, I don't like it!

Gabriella is a great eater and wakes up every hour on the hour to eat… no joke! Her sisters and brothers love her and all they want to do is hold her, kiss her, and make her smile… though we all know she can’t even smile yet! Her personality has definitely been showing, even at a few weeks old! I think she’s going to have a bit of attitude and toughness in her, but also a girly side. She’s feisty and not very patient, and the girly side is just a guess... probably because I love dressing her in pink, frilly outfits!

Gabriella loves her new brothers and sisters, and they love her. Each child is adjusting well to their new sister and enjoy playing and helping with her. Speaking of the kids, here is an update about how each child is doing since Gabriella joined our family:

Maya, who has done the whole big sister thing six other times, is yet again a wonderful big sister, which comes to no surprise. She is always by my side, helping me with whatever is needed and tries to finish her schoolwork and other responsibilities early everyday so she can help feed, change, play, and watch Gabriella. And trust me, I love and use any help I can get!

This is probably the first time Amari and Kenyan have been so excited for a new baby. It's not that they weren't excited when Gianna, Ira, Elaina, or Arlet joined our family, but they were a lot younger then and didn't quite grasp the concept of a new baby. But now they do, and cannot get enough of their little sister. Amari and Kenyan are perfect for hugging, kissing, and holding Gabriella because they cannot get enough of her. Kenyan isn't into changing or feeding Gabriella, but he loves to play with her. Amari, on the other hand, loves to change and feed Gabriella, and actually prefers this to playing with her. Maybe because she cannot actually play yet.

Gianna is a great big sister and I can already tell that she is going to have a special bond and close relationship with Gabriella. She is already talking about sharing a bedroom with her little sister and what she is going to teach her when she is older. It melts my heart and is one of my favorite things about having a lot of children: my kids love each other so much!

Ira is also a wonderful and amazing big sister. She is still a little bummed that she didn't get a baby brother like she hoped, but still loves her sister just as much and is slowly warming up to Gabriella. There have been a few moments of jealousy, but that is to be expected. The cutest thing she has said since the birth of Gabriella is "Gabi, I am your big sister and I will always love you. I will buy you candy when you're older and sing you songs and read you stories." It was priceless!

Elaina, at two years old, has been the entertainer when it comes to Gabriella. As she is so young she isn't very interesting in caring for her sister  yet, but she loves to perform for her by singing and dancing. That is no surprise, though, considering Elaina's HUGE personality. I'm pretty sure I have a future actress on my hands! But there have been a few times of sisterly bonding between the two of them; like how Elaina insists on picking out her outfits every morning, or how she likes to (gently) comb through her baby sister's wild hair!

Last but not least, Little Miss A (Arlet) has done surprisingly well as a big sister. She doesn't mind sharing my attention and always wants to be in the same room as her baby sister. When Gabriella is crying, Arlet is the first one to get my attention and she leads me to whichever room Gabriella is in. She also loves to climb in her sister's crib and pretend she is the baby. I love seeing her as a big sister!

I am We are so in love with Gabriella. She has brought so much joy and happiness to our family and I cannot imagine life without her.

Wow, eight kids! How lucky am I?

7 Quick Takes Friday (#2)

 

1. Well, I have officially hit the 38th week of pregnancy. Wow, how time has flown! This is the time where everyone begins to be on alert for any signs that the baby is coming. This basically means that every time I make a sound that merely resembles the sound of pain, everyone- children included- will run to me and say, "Is it time? Is it time?" The same goes every morning when I wake up. The kids run into my room to see if i've gone to the hospital to have the baby. It is so precious to watch my babies excited for their sister to be born. With all three of my previous pregnancies, I gave birth between 38 and 41 weeks, so there is really no telling when this baby is going to arrive. Maybe today, maybe tomorrow, maybe in two weeks. There is just no way to be sure! One thing is for sure though, I cannot wait to meet my baby girl, whenever the time may be.

2. The Tooth Fairy has made FOUR stops to our house this week. Wow! Maya (7) has lost three of her teeth this week and Kenyan (6) has lost one. The little kids think this is the absolute coolest thing ever and keep trying to pull out their own teeth! I'm not sure what they like more: the idea of the tooth fairy or finding money under their pillow. Hmmmm! One thing is for sure, though: the Tooth Fairy is going to be broke with the amount of kids in this family!

3. Wren and I are obsessed with Downtown Abbey! For a long time people told us we should start watching the show, and, probably after the 20th time of being told, we finally watched an episode. AND WE ARE HOOKED! Right now we are beginning season 2. We're not big television watchers, but this is one show that we definitely take time to watch. Wren and I make a date out of it, too. When we aren't totally exhausted and out of energy from raising 7 kids and being 9 months pregnant, Wren and I will lay on the couch at night and watch an episode or too. It is a great way to spend time together!

4. Kenyan and Amari love soccer so much. They have been playing since they were little boys, so every soccer season I sign them up to play on a team. They have already played for two years now and love it every year. That time of year came again where the boys were asking if they could play soccer. Of course my immediate answer was yes, but then I got to thinking about how soccer is just falling at the worst time for us this year. The league begins in March, this is when the baby is due, when we're expected to move (separate post coming soon), and when Wren has to go on a business trip for two weeks.  After I had already said yes, I thought about possibly telling the boys it wasn't going to work out. But then I imagined their little faces and having to disappoint them; plus, it is just not worth it. We can make it work. It is more important to me that my kids are happy than not letting them participate in extra curricular activities for my sanity. Yesterday I took the boys to meet their team at a pre-season party and they were SO happy and SO excited. It is so worth it!

5. Maya has been interested in helping me in the kitchen lately. Each night when I cook dinner she is right by my side, helping me and learning. It is so much fun and such an amazing way to spend time with my daughter. She has graduated from observing and doing a few small tasks, to completely making side dishes on her own. Looks like I have a future chef on my hands! Of course she isn't cooking or baking anything too complex, but Maya makes some delicious cheddar biscuits. She is learning so much and she told me this morning that helping me cook will make her a great future wife and mommy. Awwww!

6. Yesterday, when Wren was at work, I called him saying I was having a rough day. I spent 30 minutes cooking a delicious lunch for the kids, only to find that none of the kids felt like eating what I had made. Arlet and Elaina would NOT go down for their naps. Amari scraped his knee and thought he needed to be hospitalized... literally. One of the kids broke a vase. Basically, the craziness of yesterday was insane. Thirty minutes after I called Wren, two of my sisters showed up at my door saying they'd take over the fort while I went out for a couple of hours to have some time for myself. Wren had called them and asked them to come over since he was at work and couldn't. Wow, I have the best husband and sisters ever. With four (magical, relaxing, peaceful, quiet) hours to myself, I felt like I had gone on vacation for a week. First I bought a new book from Barnes and Nobles and spent an hour reading it in my car (I needed absolute quiet), then I went out to lunch, got my nails done, and lastly, I went to fulfil my daily hourly craving of frozen yogurt and decided to bring some back for the kids. When I got home, the kids were excited to see me and I was excited to see them. It was amazing what a couple of hours of "me" time can do to a person! By the end of my day, I felt refreshed and ready to get back to regular life.

7. Guess what?! Wren and I picked a name for baby #8 last night! We feel it is absolutely perfect for our baby girl and cannot wait to put a name to the face in the upcoming weeks. It is a name that we both equally love and it has a very special meaning. Just like our previous pregnancies, we're not sharing until her birth. But a couple weeks isn't bad, right? It's better than nine months!

7 Quick Takes Friday (#1)

 

1. The weather is FINALLY starting to warm up around here! And i've got to tell you, I am thrilled about this. I've never been a fan of cold weather; it coops us up in the house for months at a time, the kids get colds and coughs, and it's just no fun. It's not like there's snow for the kids to play in or rain for them to splash around in, it's just cold and yucky outside 24/7. But alas, there's sun and blue skies! The first thing we did after waking up on Monday was walk to the park, and I think we've gone every day since. It's just so beautiful outside, and the kids love running around... plus it is a major energy burner!

2. My four oldest children had eye appointments yesterday. It was definitely time to see whether Maya and Gianna have poor vision like me or great vision like Wren. While we were at it, I decided it was the perfect opportunity to take Amari and Kenyan to get their vision checked. The appointment lasted three hours and I was definitely worn out by the end. The appointment was during their usual snack time, so they were all cranky and in need of a snack; and by the time their exams started (45 minutes after we checked-in!) they just wanted to run around and play! Amari also had a difficult time, he was so scared of all the machines. (Ever since we brought him home from Ethiopia, my little boy is very scared of things he's not used to in his normal environment. We've been working with him, slowly but surely, and we can definitely see an improvement in his ability to adapt to different situations, though.) After three hours, a few tantrums, and lots of crying it was determined that Maya, Gianna, and Amari do not need glasses. Wow, I thought for sure the girls would need them! Unfortunately, Amari does. And I say unfortunately because he's definitely going to have a difficult time adjusting to them.

3. I've been a reading fanatic lately. I've always loved reading but am finally getting to the point where I can find time to read each day... even if it may be at night before I go to bed. I love, love, love memoirs and biographies. Some of my favorites are Bloom, Heaven is Here, The Obamas, Tolstoy and the Purple Chair, and The Freedom Writers Diary, though I could go on and on about my other favorite books! My love of reading has definitely rubbed off on my kids. Seeing Mommy read encourages them to read and they think its cool when they see me reading... I love that! We've gotten in the habit of having "Mommy/Children Reading Time" at night before bed. I sit with the oldest four and we read together for 30 minutes. It's a great way to spend time together and educational, too!

4. The oldest four are home schooled, but their curriculum is based through the school. Every Monday they go to school and interact in a regular classroom setting, with other students, and learn everything kids of the same age learn; their work is assigned on Monday, throughout the week they work on it, and on Friday they go back to school to turn in and have their work graded. It's great for their social skills (not they have any social issues, they have six siblings after all!) and they love that they have a teacher and friends. Since there was no school on Friday, the kids went to school on Thursday, which also happened to be Valentines Day. Maya, Gianna, Amari, and Kenyan all got to participate in the Valentine's Day festivities the school had to offer, including giving each of their classmates a valentine. It was a great day!

5. Speaking of Valentine's Day, Wren and I went on our first date of the year on February 14th. We usually try and go on a date every two weeks, but lately we've either been too tired or too busy to go to dinner and a movie. Instead we have been waiting until the kids go to bed, then stay up talking and laughing over dinner in our home (which is equally as special), but it was Valentine's Day and Wren thought it was the perfect excuse for a romantic night out. He surprised me with dinner at my favorite restaurant- The Melting Pot- and a trip to the bookstore for a couple of new books. My husband knows how to make me feel special: fondue and books! Then we went home and, even after a delicious dessert of chocolate fondue, I was craving chocolate covered strawberries and Wren whipped some up for me. I just love my husband!

6. This probably isn't newsworthy, but I feel like I need to write this down. My 4-year-old daughter, Ira, is currently obsessed with frogs. And by obsessed, I mean addicted. She has at least ten stuffed frogs, frog pajamas, frog slippers, frog bed sheets, frog books, and a frog beanie. None of my children have never been this interested in something, but Ira is truly committed to her froggies! She has a birthday coming up and I have a pretty could idea of what she wants the theme to be. Can you guess? FROGS!

7. I cannot believe in less than one month another Kingston baby will join our family. This baby has technically already joined our family, but it will feel more real when she is actually here. Wren and I are finishing up all the last minute preparations we need to complete before baby: install the car seat, pack my hospital bag, make childcare plans for the kids, etc. One thing we still have to do, though, is come up with a name. We've gone back and forth between our favorite names, but cannot seem to agree. This has never happened to us before, and with our other pregnancies we came up with a name by the sixth month. Oh well, she'll have a name sooner or later!