We’ve had a lot of good suggestions for a blogname for our new baby. Some ideas that have been tossed around are:

• Big Ben – suggested by friends who are Steelers’ fans. But I am the rare person living in the United States who doesn’t watch football. At all. So I vetoed it. Sorry, guys!
• Little Guy – because this is what I’ve had a tendency to call him on the blog so far
• Chase – because he’ll be chasing around 6 big siblings
• Angus – because Iron Man thinks it’s a cool name
• Sunshine – because his skin is so smooth and warm – but this was vetoed because we don’t want him to get beat up with a girly name
• Bundle – because he’s our bundle of joy, and he loves to be bundled up warm and snuggle close with us
• Joy – because of the “bundle of joy” thing, but vetoed because it’s girly
• Cutie – because George isn’t using this name anymore, and it certainly does apply

The children have all voted, and they decided on another blogname for their baby brother… a name which was thrown into the running at the 11th hour. They unanimously agreed, so alas, I have to go with…

Burrito.

"There, you like your new name, don't you, Little Burrito?"

See, look at that. He's smiling!

Want to find out where the rest of the crew got their blognames? Read more about us here!

I know, I know: It’s been a whole week since I’ve written a blog post. I have nothing exciting, poignant, or even practical to share right now, as we are simply taking some time to get to know our newest family member (who is yet to be blognamed, I might add.) It was also Iron Man’s first week back at work since Baby’s birth, so I spent most of my time getting back into “life.”

So while I have nothing prolific to share today, I do, however, have pictures!

That’s all for tonight, but more are coming soon. We are going on a field trip tomorrow, and I’m sure I’ll have some photos to share of our adventures there. I also hope to put up some more pictures of our baby boy with his other siblings! They all adore him and can’t get enough snuggle time with him.

Just a few more pictures of our baby boy. He’s changing too quickly already!

first bath at home

a hint of a smile

So much to share! But I have a precious newborn boy in my arms right now, and I’ll need to keep it rather short.

First, thanks to my wonderful husband for posting some pictures on the blog! He’s a man of many surprises. He also taught me how to add captions to my photos. All this time that I’ve been blogging, I never noticed this feature!

Secondly, a few little details. Many of you were praying for our baby to have a safe delivery, and he did. When we got to the hospital on Monday morning, he was in a transverse position again (although he had been head down the night before) so my doctor gave me an epidural, effectively turned him, and then put a binder around my belly to discourage him from moving out of the head-down position. About five or six hours later, he was born. I might add that this wonderful baby only made me push through three contractions before he was out. This turned out to be a blessing in more ways than one… his cord was actually looped twice around his neck. Thankfully, it was only loosely looped and the doctor quickly unwound it as his head emerged. Makes me wonder if that was Baby’s reason for moving around so much in the womb… perhaps he was trying to get away from it. Every time I think of what could have happened, I thank God that he is okay.

Third, we need a nickname for our little guy. Iron Man voted that we temporarily call him “Angus” on the blog, but that’s not going to stick for long. Any suggestions? To describe this little guy, he is the perfect 7th baby. He is beautiful, soft and warm, so calm and peaceful, hardly ever cries, loves to cuddle…. just what we need in our large, happy family! I’m at a loss for nicknames though, and we’re taking suggestions!

And finally, some more pictures!

Posted in Family ]]> http://myblessedhome.wordpress.com/2009/10/29/more-baby-pictures/feed/ 11 Michelle 9 8 1 2 3 4 5 7 11 12 13 14 15 16 http://myblessedhome.wordpress.com/2009/10/27/7s-here/ http://myblessedhome.wordpress.com/2009/10/27/7s-here/#comments Tue, 27 Oct 2009 22:56:19 +0000 Iron Man http://myblessedhome.wordpress.com/?p=3976 ]]>

Wanted to get some pics up of the latest model   #7 was born Monday October 26, 2009 @ 2:20 weighing in at 8lbs 10oz.  He was 20.5 inches long.

Both Mom and #7 are doing well and should be home with the family tomorrow. At this point, we don’t have a suitable nickname, so let’s use code name Angus.

Angus close up

It's pretty cold in here

He's nice, but did you say NEW baby?

I believe I'm the baby....

The Crew with all Seven!

We can help take care of him!

More pics to come tomorrow….

We have a whole two days until we are scheduled to induce the birth of Baby #7, and we decided to spend part of that time taking the kids to the pumpkin patch! Here are some moments from our excursion…

Scoping out the place in search of the perfect pumpkin.

Gameboy found a good one. Hmm… a little heavier than expected!

“Nope, I got it. Seriously, I can handle it. Really…”

The whole crew, minus the one in my belly.

We were lost in the corn maze for a while. Of course, I decided to use the time to take some more pictures.

Love this one…

And this one too.

Iron Man and George stayed outside of the corn maze and waited for us. Apparently George got a little worried, and we could hear him loudly calling for us while we were still lost! When we came out, he just laughed and laughed with excitement at seeing us. This was his expression.

This pic may seem out of place, but these baby chicks were just so precious, I couldn’t resist including it.

It was a great day!

Last night we celebrated the birthday of Iron Man’s Dad (aka “Pap”) with a surprise party! Here are a few highlights…

Surprise!

But the party wasn’t the only surprise… Iron Man’s brother, who recently moved to Hawaii, was able to maneuver a trip into town for the event! Here he is waiting to spring the second surprise.

This was a very well-kept secret! Iron Man’s mom (aka “Gram”) was equally surprised!

Blowing out the birthday candles on the best cake I’ve ever tasted.

Speaking of cake, Princess felt that it could not be cut soon enough!

And a few other sweet shots… Gram and Polly

Pap and George

And a hungry, happy princess!

We do family devotions and Bible reading daily with our children, but from around age seven, our children also start to read the Bible on their own. When I first started having them do this, I just let them read the Bible in order. However, I realized that I needed to change that when my daughter came across the narrative about David’s children, and did not understand what had happened to Tamar. Thankfully, she came to me with her questions, and I was able to gently explain that what happened to Tamar was a terrible thing, but she was not old enough to be told what that was. I explained that just knowing about certain bad things is a burden on a person’s heart, and there are some burdens too heavy for children to carry. I explained that when she was older and could carry that burden, I would answer her question, but for now, she would need to trust me in holding onto it for her.

While she was satisfied with this answer, I realized that I needed to give more specific direction in what our children were to read each day. I found several good websites that offered Bible Reading Plans geared toward children, which did not include content that the kids may not be ready for. I settled on one, printed it out, and saved a copy of the text on my computer. Since that time, I have been unable to located the website where I found this plan. I really wish I could give credit where it was due, so if anyone knows where this plan originated, please let us know!

Daily Bible Reading Plan
Section 1

Section 2

Section 3

Section 4

Posted in Christian living, Homeschooling, Ideas and Encouragement, Parenting ]]> http://myblessedhome.wordpress.com/2009/10/23/bible-reading-plan-for-children/feed/ 1 Michelle http://myblessedhome.wordpress.com/2009/10/22/my-little-gymnast/ http://myblessedhome.wordpress.com/2009/10/22/my-little-gymnast/#comments Thu, 22 Oct 2009 21:32:57 +0000 Michelle http://myblessedhome.wordpress.com/?p=3911 ]]>

My soon-to-be-born baby seems to have aspirations to be a professional gymnast, swimmer, or fish.

At 39 weeks in-utero, you would think that he would be in a nice, snug, head-down position in preparation for birth, right?

Or at least in a snug breech position. Or even in a snug transverse position. Snug in position somewhere, right?

Not this little guy. He continues to change his positions several times a day.

My Ob/Gyn has been monitoring his apparent comfort in the transverse (side-to-side) position for my last several visits. Last Friday (at 38 weeks), they recommended that in order to avoid a c-section, I schedule a date to have a version done to turn the baby head down, then induce afterward. I was sent for an ultrasound to check on the size of baby, amount of fluid, etc., to see how do-able this would be.

The ultrasound proved quite interesting. First of all, our baby was estimated to be 8 pounds 5 ounces. This was a week ago, so at an average of 1/2 a pound a week, he’s likely pushing 9 pounds by now.

Secondly, at the onset of the ultrasound, our little gymnast-boy had his head solidly on my right side while his bottom was solidly on my left side, a textbook transverse position.

By the conclusion of the ultrasound, he was head down and in perfect position for birth. Go figure.

Did he stay that way? Why, of course not! Our little guy has far too much energy for that. Iron Man is quite good at determining his position and checks my belly frequently. Gym-Baby switches positions a  few times a day. He has been head-down, head-up, head-right, head-left, and everything in between. Last night my chiropractor believed baby to be head-right. Today, my ob/gyn believed him to be head-left. I am amazed that he has the space to continue moving like this.

My ob/gyn has been practicing for 20-some years and said he’s never seen a baby quite like this before. I believe “obstinate” was the word he used. Could this be any indication of our boy’s yet-to-be-seen personality? Or does he just have ambitions of being an Olympic medalist someday, and can’t start preparing too young?

In any event, we are scheduled for the version and induction on Monday morning, unless we don’t make it that long. If Gym-Baby happens to already be head-down at that time, we will have the option to stay and induce, or go home. I am more of the mindset that I’d like to stay and induce while he is head-down, rather than risking him turning again before labor. If I go into labor while he is in a transverse, or even breech position, it would mean a c-section. While I will, of course, do whatever is safest for the baby, I really do not want a c-section. I have never had one and absolutely do not want one with my seventh baby… if can avoid it (while being safe), I will!