Tobiah's Newborn Pictures And Name Reveal.

My friend Jen came over a while ago now and she took these great pictures of T for us! 

We had SO much fun with them!!  

Hugging Papa's Bible. 

A little scholar. 

Love the Glasses :) 

This one Jen named 'Grumpy Hunter' and we love it and call him that whenever he makes that face.

                                                             Been farming long?

Napping on a cloud. 

Gonna be just 'like Papa!' 

My favorite one! He's wearing J's old glasses and leaning on Papa's Greek books and his new Bible. 

AND NOW FOR THE NAME REVEAL!! 

As some of you know we name each of our children after people we love, respect, and have impacted our lives in some amazing way. Each child gets two middle names. 

For example. J's middle names are Morgan Dixon. Morgan is Papa's middle name and Dixon was Papa's maternal grandfathers name who died the same year J was born.

Normally we reveal the first name after the ultrasound and the two second names after the birth. This time we announced the names but never announced who he was named after. I kept meaning to do it but I never got there, hence this post :) 

Tobiah James Joel 

James. This one is multi persons.

My grandma had 8 kids. The 8th goes by the name of Jim (and there has been some confusion over whether his name is really James or if it's Jim. I imagine I'll find out soon after I post this). I heard recently that he was my grandma's biggest baby at around 10 or 11 lbs so I think it's very fitting that my 8th child, who is also my biggest child at roughly 10lbs at birth, is named after my Grandparents 8th child who was her biggest baby :) 

Papa's Aunt M married a fantastic guy, before I knew Papa, by the name of James :) Jim, as he's mostly called, has been a great encouragement to both of us over the years and we love you both! 

Then there is this fellow who once changed our lives in ways we still are amazed at. It was one of those GOD things and amazing!! Just a simple dinner conversation which lead to a life change that literally changed our lives. Thanks again David James :) (Note: I had quite a time sneaking around trying to find out your middle name :) ) 

Joel 

Before Papa and I got married we spent a year apart. I remember it well, it was terrible but it was strengthening for our relationship. Papa remembers it well too.. he mostly remembers working his tail off for a certain Joel Salatin and learning the methods of farming that we still follow today and that have changed the way we look at food and agriculture. So Joel this ones for you!!   

Thankful Thursday

Today I'm thankful for

A baby that enjoys sleep.

Friends who make me laugh, spoil me and feed me ice cream cake ;) 

A husband who loves to cook.

Kids who enjoy helping around the house. 

Snow that is melting. 

Spring that is coming. 

The dishwasher. The dryer. The washer. 

The tub that has arrived for the master bathroom. 

New photos.

Time to blog..with a very happy baby sleeping on me :) 

This picture is from yesterday. T sleeping with Buttons the bear, made with love from Myra, and a very cool little pillow with his name and a verse on it, made with love from Melanie!!  

What are you thankful for? 

Motivated Monday!

Papa and I are planning and scheming :). A process that involves a lot of coffee, several lists, and a calender. Papa still has several weeks off so we are figuring out a to do list, a materials needed list, our hatchery order, and several other appointments. It's gearing up to be a productive spring. :) 

Yup finishing the inside walls are on the list :) 

Thankful Thursday

Today I'm thankful for.. In no particular order.

Kids who want to do school...even if it's only so they can play computer games :) 

New baby that seems to enjoy sleep as much as I do :)

Hay for the hay burners.

Papa being at home :) 

The tote of Farm to keep the little 3 well entertained. 

Pork ribs, rice and green beans :) (Yup, it's what's for supper.) 

Swimming lesson plans 

6, maybe 7 weeks of school left :)

The vainty for our master bath should arrive tomorrow with the tub soon behind it! 

Online piano lessons are now working! Yay! 

Baby T @13 days old. Today at 14 days old he weighed 10lbs 7.6 oz :) 

Tobiah is Here!

Tobiah is here! All 9lbs 9ozs of him! Here he is R ight after birth! 

About an hour old, bonding with momma. 

A couple hours old, stole momma's bed and snoozing with Papa. 

Laying in the mid afternoon sunshine. 

Snoozing on mom after lunch. 

Quick stats. He was born after 5 hours of labour, at 12:39am on March 5th/15. He was 21.25 inches long and 9lbs, 9 ozs. Our biggest baby yet by 3 ozs. He has a full head of hair, something new :) and big chubby cheeks. He is so far a very easy laid back baby who rarely cries and sleeps a lot. He's nursing like a champ :) 

Throw Chocolate! Or 15 Things to do to Beat the Crankies in the Last Trimester.

Something I wrote last week...  This week I'm 39 weeks, measuring 48 and trying to read this list every day. :) 

Right at this moment I'm 38 weeks pregnant with our 8th child, measuring a whopping 45 weeks and feeling huge, grumpy and sore. So while laying in bed, wishing for coffee, this morning I had this idea for a article.  So here you go. 15 things to beat the late pregnancy crankies. 

1. Chocolate. With or without guilt. If you must have it with guilt wait until after you've felt it melt on your tongue, enjoying the full richness of it and try not to let the guilt last more then .02 seconds. 

2.  Coffee. Coffee and chocolate are also a great mix. I try to limit my coffee to a cup in the morning (actually a mocha) and half a cup in the afternoon. But I try to enjoy every single sip. 

3. A bath. Now your thinking: she has 7 kids how on earth does she have time to relax in a bath? I'm lucky :) my husband is home every morning until noon and I'm a night owl so after the kids go to bed is prime bath time. Get a good book, a glass of cold tea or water and relax for 40 minutes or so. I use Epsom salts in my baths and something about them just makes it feel like I'm spoiling myself. 

4. Tea. I don't really like warm drinks but if you do you can just make yours hot. I like my tea cold. So I brew a jug of it at a time, adding honey while it's hot, and then ice cubes and cold water and stick it in the fridge and it's ready every time I need a break. I rarely swig tea on the go. I much prefer to get my glass of tea, sit with my feet up, and sip it while I plan my day, mark school work, watch kids play or chat with my husband. (Oh and I should add I drink a red raspberry leaf tea mixture throughout my pregnancy's. I mix my own dry tea mix, Rrl, cinnamon chunks, alfalfa leaves, rose hip chunks, and nettle.) 

5. Deep breaths. Seriously. Take a deep breath, hold it for a bit, and let it all out. Do this until your eyes blur or your no longer cranky...or you pass out ;) No really, anyone who's been in pain can attest to the healing feeling of endorphins. A couple nice big breaths in a row can bring some of those wonderful endorphins out to calm your body and reduce your crankiness levels if anything at all is causing you pain or discomfort. 

6. Have a snack. I haven't mentioned chocolate in a while but it's a very important part of snack time. Mommies snack time that is. Kids can have fruit or something. Chocolate chips and salt and vinegar chips. Almonds with a couple of chunks of chocolate mixed in. Oh there are none chocolate snacks too but when momma is cranky the chocolate ones go over the very best!

7. Tylenol. If your in pain and the crankies are stemming from that pain it's totally worth it to take a couple Tylenol and take a break from the pain and the crankies.  My doctor says I can take it 4 times a day. I try for only once or twice during the day as I normally will need some to get any sort of decent sleep at this point and sleep is important in keeping the crankies at bay.   

8. Sleep. Sleep is important. Sleep helps you not to kill people. Notice I said HELPS! Those of you with raging homicial urges may need more help then a couple of good hours of sleep. ;) Just joking, but really sleep is super important. Right now between the baby kicking, my kidneys working almost solely  at night and my sore hips/ back I'm up every 45 minutes to a hour and a half. One night last week I slept a four hour stretch. It was amazing! Last night my longest stretch was a hour and a half. This is what I jokingly refer to as 'the baby is training me' and honestly I get better sleep after the baby is born then the 2 months before. No joke. Have a nap, heck have two. Close your eyes for 5 minutes on the couch and relax while your kids, if you have any, play on the floor or whatever. Totally worth every second. 

9. Water. Drink more. Pee more. Drink more. I think you get the picture!  Water is amazing in pregnancy. It loosens all the tight parts and lubs up all the cranky parts. It can take away headaches and Braxton hicks contractions. It can help with swelling and give you energy.  Drink. More. Water. 

10. Protein. I eat a handful of nuts every morning before my morning coffee. I can't list the reasons why but if I miss it my body doesn't like me for the rest of the day. Protein is important for so many things in growing a tiny human. Google it. It's amazing. I know it's often the very very last thing on your yummy things to eat list while pregnant but eat it anyway. I don't eat crackers for morning sickness, I eat protein. It works 10 times better. Do it. Your body will love you for it. 

11. Find a good book to read. Something you can really sink into and disappear for a bit. Add some tea or chocolate and you've got a incredible way to drown those crankies for a bit. 

12.  Get active. Go for a walk, tickle a small or large child, go hang up the laundry or window shopping. Sometimes just the change in location can do amazing things to kick those crankies outta sight. 

13. Work on a project. This article is one for me :) I also have a crochet baby blanket I'm making. Something to keep your hands/head busy. 

14. Watch a show. I just finished House and just started White Collar on Netflix. I watch on my iPad in bed in the evenings or when my littles are napping with headphones. Sometimes I even mix this with numbers 6 and 4. And a couple times with number 3 :) 

15. Make a list. A thankful list. Make one everyday if necessary. Keep a book. Date the entry's they are great to come back to later! 

And last but not least take a chill pill. Take two they are small :) You won't be pregnant forever. No one has been yet! Eventually the baby will be born and a whole new period of life will start up and this will all be a distant memory. 

BLAST FROM THE PAST Monkey Do

L and E doing school work on the couch while S and G Monkey do :) 

This was taken January 2015. Check out the room behind them. No walls, hallway or stucco. 

Gingerbread Smash

Successful :) Great fun had by all! 

J's 11th Birthday

Better late then never right? 

So hard to believe he's 11 already! He loved his apple tarts and whipped cream cake. 

Reading the invitation from Grandma. A night on his own at G&G's house! What an experience :) 

A funny card Papa made for him. :) Strangly similar to one Papa's folks gave Papa not too many years ago. Humor, strange or otherwise abnormal, does run in families :) 

His very own sling shot. He promptly made a bag for rocks and went out target practicing. 

A book from G&G. Hardy boys. His first one. He's also been deep in the Louis L'Amour box this winter. 

Happy Birthday J! J loves to read, shoot his new bow and sling shot, and help in the kitchen. He told me just the other day that now he can make all 3 meals in the day, and cookies, just about by himself!  (And only just about because he isn't sure of oven temps etc). He's very good with the littler kids, often reading to them or teaching them something. He's amazingly strong and does all my lifting jobs with Papa now. He's working on a origami book right now and has a collection of animals he's made from paper. He also loves to build paper air planes, metal swords and collect things. He also loves to wrestle, either with L on the trampoline or with Papa on the living room floor. His feet are a size bigger then mine and Papa's and he's got about 20lbs to go before he'll outweigh Papa! He loves social studies and science and could do without math (even though he's super good at it) and English :) he loves to make fires in the woodstove and plays some great piano :) He's already decided his next instrument with by a guitar! 

Thanks for being such a wonderful son :) We Love you lots! 

Gingerbread Houses

We made a village this year. Two big houses, 4 little houses, a big tree and a bunch of gingerbread men. It was super fun! 

The finished village. 

It went really smoothly this year with the different work stations for different age groups. I did all the 'glueing' while Papa ran interferace and helped keep everyone busy and out of trouble :) 

The boys house. 

The tree decorated by Papa, G and J3. 

The girls house. 

A little house I decorated and a person done by either J3 or G. 

E's little house she decorated alone. 

Papa started this one and I finished it. 

And I did this one too, with some help from R :)