Picture Journey of Baby 11 - 8 weeks

2 days shy of 8 weeks. Close enough. We'll be busy this entire weekend so today had to suffice.

And for the fun of it..I didn't take a full length picture with the last pregnancy at 8 weeks. So this comparing to last pregnancy at 9 weeks.

So, my forever faithful jeans were delightedly found after being in the toss pile that hadn't yet made it to the dump. One of the very few things I have been overly elated to see, thinking they had been long since trashed. If you could see the massive holes in the back of these things you would know why they're in the trash box. But...since the art of picture comparison is so fun I saved them from their imminent demise and am now wearing them once more....holes and all. There are actually holes so large in the thighs of these things that I risks exposure but since I am standing sideways no one is the wiser. Thus the reason they were in the trash heap though.


So, as with the last pregnancy, I do this to comfort myself that baby really is growing. If I can see growth I know all is well. And, in the meantime, it makes for entertaining blog posts...since I tend to be a bit boring otherwise at the current moment. And..I must note....that until some readers recently went back through the blog archives and I was alerted to this fact I had absolutely no clue...or chose to forget...that I have pics of me in my underwear on here. So for those poor few of you who were exposed to such viewing, I do deeply apologize. It would be safe to say that was back in the days when no one in the world ever read this blog and it was just for the sheer novelty of entertaining myself. Over the years I have refined myself a little and made this a more family friendly blog instead of the wannabe porn it apparently used to be....that is, if an underwear picture in a spotted, fingerprinted mirror and a messy bathroom can be considered as pseudo porn. So, onward and upward to topics that have absolutely nothing to do with me in my underwear.



8 weeks. A huge milestone in any pregnancy, just for the sheer fact we have made it to this point. It always seems that 8, 12, 16, 20, 30, 36 and 38 are the biggest ones, for whatever reason...at least in my book. So, we made it to 8...now continuing on to 12. For lack of anything better to post here's comparison pics with the last pregnancy. Since that was the only pregnancy I ever chronicled from beginning to end I have no others for comparison...except for aforementioned underwear pic, which I will refrain from posting for the wellbeing of all of you.



8 weeks with the little twins and 8 weeks with this pregnancy. Disturbingly enough, I think I actually look bigger in this picture. But then, everything looks bigger...butt and all. So, it would only stand to reason that stomach is bigger too.


8 weeks last pregnancy

8 weeks this pregnancy




Or maybe it isn't bigger. I can't really tell, honestly. Lighting kinda makes the left one look bigger. If I were to take these two and stack the pics on top of themselves I can't really tell which one would come out bigger. All in all, they're pretty close to the same. I still maintain just one baby this time around. It doesn't really entirely matter at this point since the whole point is to be rest assured baby grows....which it does! My uterus seems to know well what to do and just falls out at the beginning of each pregnancy....twins or not. By 16 weeks it's pretty evened out and I don't look quite so alarmingly large for my weeks. At any rate, it's comfort for the heart to know sweet baby grows well.

Morning Sickness

.....and afternoon sickness and night sickness and everything in between sickness. This is not a gripe post....truly. But somehow I honestly thought the last pregnancy was just an oddity and this one would put me right back into the effortless pregnancy category. And it hasn't. I am so sick. Like...everything makes me puke. I'm back to losing weight instead of gaining....which isn't all entirely bad in my book. It's to the point that looking at the computer screen makes me sick, driving makes me sick, riding in a vehicle, looking at food, smelling anything, bending down and standing up, jiu jitsu, texting, eating, not eating, drinking anything, anything even remotely sweet to the taste, dealing with baby poop, looking at ticks....pretty much everything. I don't entirely understand it.....but I desperately need it to change. It makes it rather difficult to carry on with daily life when you're constantly having to run for a trash can. I can't even begin to think about puking in the toilet right now cause that thought alone will leave me retching until the wee hours of the morning. What's worse is that it's mostly just dry heaving at this point. Pharmacist recommended Benadryl so I take that about twice a day. It's like a constant state of motion sickness....the carnival ride from hell that never really ends...or like being spun in circles for an infinite amount of time and never regaining your sense of equilibrium. Sympathetic husband helps in every way he can but, as of now, I'm not really worth much of anything. There's not alot of energy...or really what energy does exist is spent over the side of a trash can.....and the thought of any kind of physical exercise even in small amounts makes me wanna puke. I do feel entirely better immediately following a dose of Benadryl so we've planned jiu jitsu training time around that. However, during our session two nights ago....I did puke...despite the Benadryl. but I made it to a trash can and then continued on. Life can't stop with this crap...though it's desperately trying to. I'm to the point of begging for some Phenergan. I convinced myself I'm being overly melodramatic and making way more of this than it really is...that the workload of 10 other children is just becoming evident in early pregnancy. But then I got on the scale and discovered I've lost 5 lbs in the last 6 days. It was comfort to some extent....to know that at least I'm not crazy and being a whiny baby about it all.






So, since we live in you-have-to-order-everything-off-the-internet Texas I've ordered some adult size sea bands. Evye suffers from massive car sickness and they have done wonders for her. Thanks to her we have 4 sets of pediatric ones, 2 of which I am currently wearing. The 3-5 business days it will take for them to get here seems like next year at the current moment. So, I improvised with her's. Yes, they seem to cut off the circulation in my hands and leave elastic grooves engraved into my wrists for days...but at this point that little side issue just doesn't really matter a whole lot. I rather have tingling fingers and numb hands than be hung over the side of a trash can dry heaving most hours of the day. Desperation level hit its peak yesterday and it wasn't until this afternoon that we unearthed them from the dark depths of the petrified food living within the van seats and upon the van floor. The bracelets themselves are free from mold and that was really the only question I voiced about their condition...and really I probably would've worn them anyway, despite any mold going on, if they promised to help my cause out. So far so good and I can actually bring myself to stare at the computer screen for longer than 5 minutes twice a day. And ever patient husband may just stand a chance at having some decent company in the bed tonight.







In the 2 short hours I have worn Evye's sea bands I will say that I feel like a new person. I must note though that since I am wearing pediatric ones mine are not nearly as boring as the ones pictured. Nope....I have on bright yellow with neon green stripes and orange polka dots. Nothing like bringing some attention to it all. And since I have successfully seen fit to stretch Evye's out I ordered her some new camo ones. They seem to only make boring ones for adults.

Picture Journey of Baby #11 - 7 weeks

7 weeks with Baby 11

Disclaimer:

I seriously don't feel very good and the picture clearly indicates the state of nausea and the absolute exhaustion, lending itself to no makeup. So lovely. But you get the general idea.

To celebrate the 7 week milestone I figured we'd start the picture journey with this baby. I was really wanting to wait around until 9 weeks or so....but I started at 5 weeks last time around. 8 weeks seems like such a critical milestone and one that if you manage to get past you stand a much better chance of staying pregnant. I'd even thought of waiting until after the sonogram at 11 weeks but this baby is real, its tiny heart beats, and it is already apparent that it grows. I know that as I grow older and as I've watched close friends, and my closest and dearest of them all, live through the heartache of multiple losses it becomes so apparent that we are not the giver and taker of life and it is never guaranteed to us. So, we celebrate life in the present, the here and now, and in the meantime I take the 1st trimester one day at a time and hope to welcome sweet baby 33 weeks from now.

I am absolutely awful at predictions or determining what quietly lies within, being woven in the dark places of the womb. I was adamant, based on pregnancy history, that the last pregnancy was a single baby girl...and out came two boys! That pregnancy blew away everything I had ever known or experienced about pregnancy. I have the nausea to go along with a girl pregnancy, or the extent that I went through it with the little twins. My hunger is insatiable and the exhaustion rivals what I dealt with in the big twins pregnancy. I could've eaten us out of house and home with the big twins but I completely lost my appetite with the little twins. I even lost 10 lbs in the 1st trimester with the little guys, and energy was high. I slept so long this afternoon that husband showed concern. So, in the event it is anemia this early in the game I've started iron supplements along with the vitamins I'm already on. If I were just to take a random guess I could honestly say that I wouldn't be surprised if we found two more in there again. But, as I said before, I'm beyond awful at guessing anything and every pregnancy is so entirely different. The odds of twins twice in a row...and the odds of 3 spontaneous sets with no family history....are pretty much non existent. And the fact there was much doubt as to whether I even could get pregnant in June leads me to believe there is definitely only one baby. But, I suppose after having two sets a mind is capable of wondering.....or wandering....or both. I'm losing inches but the scale has gone up a few lbs....probably blood volume and mild fluid retention. So, guess I'm just saying that although I do not expect it in any way whatsoever, I just wouldn't be surprised at all if they discovered two babies based on what I'm feeling and what is evident right now. The exhaustion, weight gain, and hunger alone are enough to raise legitimate questions. We'll happily and excitedly welcome one baby and I'd gladly embrace maxing out at the size of a small whale instead of an entire house. As of now, we are preparing for just little #11 to take his/her place within our home. And I can honestly say I truly won't be disappointed either way. I just feel so overwhelmingly grateful to even be pregnant and my heart aches for the very many who long to be but aren't or who have suffered the loss of their tiny babies.

7 weeks!

And on a completely different note.....my war wounds from jiu jitsu rolling. You can actually see his fingerprint in there! This would be due to the infamous "monkey grip". He keeps grabbing the same spot. He grew weary of me saying "Oww!" everytime he grabbed it so my new motto..."wince and keep going!" No girly fighting allowed.

Daybook

His two dish washing helpers

Outside my window.....hotness

I am thinking....

that I have been self diagnosed with pregnancy induced heat intolerance

I am thankful for.....air conditioning and cold showers. I actually took one.

I am wearing....as little as I possibly can

I am hearing.....

the happy jabber of a baby who woke up way too early from his nap and Don Williams "Good Ole Boys Like Me"

I am remembering....

that it takes heroic acts of valour and great lengths of determination to jiu jitsu when one is already nauseous, beyond hot, and smashed against a sweaty dude...even if it is my husband. And it becomes even harder when he pauses to bury his nose in my hair or neck to say things like, "Your hair smells good" or "You really smell like a girl" or "You feel good" and tries to kiss in between fighting. Not entirely romantic but pretty sweet...even when you are hot and nauseous. And despite the massive thumbprint bruise I now sport on my right wrist I'm going to get out there and do it again tonight....at least that's the general idea.

I am going....

to not think about dumping the poop in the diapers waiting to be washed right now. I did great with it...actually thoroughly enjoyed it and achieved great amounts of satisfaction from it....up until a week ago.

I am reading.....

the Clorox bleach tab wrapper. Yep, it's toxic and, yep, we use it.

I am hoping....
that my body will once again get used to the tanning lotion it has seen fit to develop an allergy to.....since I have no intention of ceasing the usage of it. Because pale on me is 15 shades whiter than white.

On my mind.....

that despite the gripiness of the computer burnout post it was an amazingly fun day and a new friendship was born. The mysteriousness of the blog world was reduced a little more and readers become faces and friends and not just names.

Meeting Marie (the tan one). Visiting Texas all the way from the Riverside, CA area.

Noticing that.....

the only two Natalie Grant songs we own are "You Move Me" and "I Will Not Be Moved".

Pondering....that one of the most frustrating things about a tiny rural town is trying to reason with a city council that, for the most part, is just plain stupid.

Around the house....
alot less crap than we had 4 weeks ago.

One of my favorite things....winter

Life in pictures.....

when you're trying to pull it out and the basket's heavier than you are

what the river yields

His 1st alligator gar..pretty proud of it

In the playroom where everybody plays...on A shift while the boys were fishing. Infamous messy web and red violin shaped stomach marking. So lovely. To their credit, Garrett and Gavin came in running saying it was out there. Grayson has done well in teaching them to identify stuff. It's a general rule continually hammered into them not to touch, mess with or kill spiders or snakes around here. Go find somebody big. And they did!

Feeling a Little Bit Pregnant

I've done amazingly well up until this point. In fact...so well, it almost raises fear. But within the last 3 or so days bouts of overwhelming nausea have become a very regular part of life and once nighttime rolls around it takes all of my willpower to hold anything down....which doesn't bode well for car travel. One that is not prone to car sickness can suddenly find themselves in the throws of pregnancy induced late night nausea coupled with extreme car sickness. Thankfully...we still had a good time, some meaningful conversation and no road side puking occurred.







Extreme exhaustion has also crept into life. I wake at 8, am capable of taking a 3 1/2 hr nap and fall asleep by 9. Not exactly a ton of entertainment or fun right now. Despite valiant efforts of staying awake at day's end gentle husband rubs head, bends down and kisses ear and neck, flashes a love smile and whispers almost every night, "Why don't you just quit fighting it and go to sleep, my lover girl. The day's over." And with big warm calloused hands woven through long strands of thick dark curls I fall to sleep, long before lights are turned out or house is shut down. I'm not entirely sure if it's due to the workload of the others or just merely pregnancy induced...or maybe a little of both. I'm thinking it's mostly pregnancy related due to the fact I was doing quite fine before sweet baby came into the picture.





Nausea continues to escalate and I am hopeful it has hit its peak for this pregnancy. As incapacitating as it can be it leaves me reassured that baby continues to grow. I would say due to the extent of it I am quite certain this might very well be a girl. But I was so entirely convinced of that last pregnancy only to be shocked by two boys that I don't think I'll go there in declaring my certainty of baby #11 undoubtedly being a girl. As of now, this will be our first surprise baby. We'll see if our resolve holds out. If it proves to do so 34 wks from now we'll all find out if baby is boy or girl.





Pregnancy confirmation appointment took place last Monday, in which I was congratulated and told "You are indeed very pregnant!" I found it a bit odd that after 10 children I was going in for a "pregnancy confirmation appt". Um....dear lady, I think I know when I am pregnant. We began the appt with them failing to review my chart before asking questions.







"Do you have any other children or is this your first baby?'


Yes, I have other children.




And you're around 23/24?




With a smile..."No. not exactly.




Oh??? Then your age?




35.




Oh wow! I wouldn't have known. So how many other children?




10.




2?




No. 10.




2, you say?




Ummm....no. Ten.




You have 10 other children???!!!


yes.


Do you mind me asking a very personal question?


Not at all.


Did you physically birth them all....or are any adopted?





And so it all went something like that. By the end of it they were all so thrilled for our family and so amazed by our outlook on it that they began asking questions of how we make it all work. She then eagerly reviewed chart, names and ages, asking questions of house size, daily routine and how we make it all work. They began the appt by stating there would be no sonogram before 12 weeks. With this new turn of events and their mounting excitement, the story changed and they were stating that they could do a sono in one week as soon as I hit 6 wks 1 day. I declined and stated my desire is to wait towards the end of the 1st trimester, since we have had one 2nd trimester loss. Since they only do one I don't want to risk doing it too early and then something happening later on. They were more than understanding and kind but their excitement still kept trying to convince having an earlier one done. I finally agreed to 11 wks instead of 12-13. They tried talking me into 8 but I couldn't bring myself to be ok with it. So, I have an ultrasound scheduled for August 16th as I near the end of the first trimester. And hopefully we will be welcomed with the sight of a big, growing, thriving baby with a strong heartbeat that we will have the amazing honor of bringing into this world about 34 wks from now.




So in love were the clinic employees that they asked if I could bring all 10 children to the u/s. They were filled with excitement over the possibility of meeting them and stated they would love the opportunity to show siblings their 1st glimpse of their new baby. The sonogram room is huge in size and they assured me it would easily accommodate the entire family. After some discussion with attentive husband, concerns were taken into consideration, it was decided the two of us will go in and take a look with the tech and, assuming all is indeed well with baby, children will be called in and be able to see their 12 wk old sibling. It's been years since I've had a sonogram done this early so seeing a baby so little is an exciting event around here.





I am grateful for the morning sickness and I embrace the exhaustion because I know that it means baby grows within and this pregnancy progresses. So, maybe a boost in iron intake and maybe some ginger capsules and I'm thinking I should be good to go for the next few weeks until the fun of the 1st trimester passes. How is it possible to be so in love with a baby that is merely the size of a grain of rice right about now? I love my life. I am overwhelmingly blessed by my husband and my children. The Lord has indeed been so very good to me. Thoughts of failure still loom somedays and fear of loss never truly fades into non existence but I embrace the present because I am here, I know how blessed I am and I refuse to ever take any of it for granted. I am absolutely overwhelmed and truly humbled beyond words by God's goodness. I will not gripe and I will not whine in the heat and when the exhaustion seems unbearable and when the waves of nausea roll over me because I know how blessed I am and how far the Lord has brought us.....from devastation to conquerors....and how abundantly we have been blessed in every area of our life.

Computer Burnout

I will begin with...I should've paced myself. Just a little bit. I have a way of taking on a task in an undeterred manner...which sounds noble and quite honorable at face value. Until you get to the part where you've so burned yourself out that you are ready to take a gun to anything that has a screen. I have successfully managed to spend from 8am to midnight, if not longer, staring at the glowing screen...successfully managing to give myself a 3 week headache while my children grow quite feral. By the end of this past week I was so done I think I had exhausted every cuss word in my vocabulary and declared no less than 50 times that I would never again sit in a computer chair as long as I live. But.........here I am. Although, I will point out that I am not selling, listing or uploading pictures to a picture hosting site to upload them from there to an Ebay listing hosting site to upload them from there to Ebay itself. Tasks that are entirely easy but take up massive amounts of time....and brain cells that should probably be reserved for the education and behaviour management of children.

I grew so weary, my butt so numb and my eyes so bleary from the illegal amount of hours spent on my butt that I proclaimed to sympathetic husband I was completely 100% done and everything left was either being burned, donated, or toted to FW and dropped off at appropriate stores. So it was that we made a day trip with 8 out of 10 children to the big city and "sold" 9 boxes of books and 2 boxes of record albums.

While there we had the amazing honor of meeting yet another one of the dear people the Lord has brought into our lives because of this blog. A humbling experience to say the least...to meet the people who have long been praying for our family through the ups and the downs and everything in between. To be able to see and know that these people are very much real and it is not just a vast black cyber world is amazing to me. It's a humbling experience to see how much our family is loved and be able to fall in love on an intimate level with people we have somehow connected with over the years. We sat and visited for an hour while children ate lunch and another sweet friendship was born.

Marie, it was an amazing experience being able to meet you and your husband. I look forward to the day when we road trip west to meet the rest of your family.


After children were full we said good byes and headed to Half Price books to drop our first load of crap. The 106 degree heat tested the best of outlooks on life. With isles not even made to accommodate one person, not to mention 2 adults backpacking infants with 6 other children in tow, Brad and Grayson decided to stay with books, as they require, while I took children to shop the big city stores. First stop was the glorified Petsmart. Our little city has one...but it's about 1/4 of the size of any normal one...as is the going thing around this part of Texas. We get a few stores...but it's a tiny little matchbox version of anything in the big cities. Before entering Grant took a running leap and didn't quite clear the concrete wall he was attempting to jump. Thrown head over heels into the air he landed head first on concrete.....in the heat. With cries eventually quieted....in the heat....we walked into store. As the employees grew horrified by the masses we gained the attention of one particular mindful employee, who then took it upon his cranky, anal retentive self to follow our entourage around the store and reprimand every one of the children every time a hand was extended to touch anything. And due to heat...and a little bit of growing nausea...my tolerance waned a little....or maybe alot. The annoying dude that has obviously missed out on some aspect of childhood followed us around saying "Little boy?? Little boy! Don't touch that!", "Excuse me....um...you boy...the one in the camo shirt (Hey Einstein...they all have on camo shirts) please don't touch that. Somebody's going to buy that!" Seriously dude....a dog toy???? What's he gonna do....squeak it to death...IF I'd even allowed him to squeak it??? "Little boy...please don't talk to the birds!! They get scared easily and when they are scared they can die." First of all, you who has the corncob shoved up your rear...you need to invest in some tougher birds. Try some Amazonian parakeets or something. Second of all...if you can't even talk to the damn bird why in the crap is somebody going to BUY it????!!! So, with my tongue growing numb for the teeth dug into it, trying heroically to control it, we packed up our merry little selves and set off for the store one door over. Bed Bath and Beyond was so packed that we could hardly fit down the isles without turning sideways. Not entirely conducive for one with many children trailing behind. One round around that store and we exited it also. Back out into the humid heat. We found Party City in which all little boys lingered on the military camo birthday section where we stayed for as long as possible. Eventually older woman began huffing and puffing and sighing and groaning over our presence...apparently desiring the entire isle to self. If I'd had more left in me I would've stuck it out just to irritate her but, as it was, I was tired of fighting people and their horrific attitudes so the command was given to vacate the premises. Upon exiting the store one particularly high maintenance woman gaped with mouth wide open. Hair perfectly coiffed, high heels on, dress unwrinkled with bountiful cleavage apparent and there I walked with my talkative little bunch out the door...in my tank top, jeans and flip flops. Finally she exclaimed in fake shock and a generous amount of big city shallowness...."I just have to ask...are they all your's???!!!" I smiled kindly, looked at children and said quietly, "Come on guys...let's go."...politely ignoring her. Cause I'd kinda had it. Once again even louder...."No really! Are they ALL your's???!!" Once again I smiled at kids, looked her direction and said quietly "Have a nice day, ma'am". Eventually she said in shock..."Wow. Wow! You are blessed." This earned her some words on my behalf so I said with a smile but still rather quietly, "Yes, indeed I am." She then says...."So blessed!....but can I just ask....." and then she said in absolute credulousness...."Why? WHY...do you have so many????" Seriously lady...did you just really ruin it with that??? I smiled and spoke anyway..."Because they are my joy. They bring light to all of life." I could've said many more pointed things but my overheated brain was not optimally functioning at that point. But, for whatever reason, this silenced her and she shook her head back and forth and ended with "I guess they do. You must have more energy than I do. Have a good day." And we left.

Babies cried in the heat, 2 little boys needed to pee, one needed to poop, I was disgustingly drenched in sweat and there was nowhere left to go. I was near tears with no sign of husband or son in sight and people walked around in digust or awe....or both. And I was tired...tired of being in people's way, tired of being hot, tired of bad attitudes and feeling overwhelmingly nauseas. Finally husband and son emerged, children were loaded into 120 degree van, a/c attempted to cool it and eventually the question..."So, how much did we get for all of that?" Knowing it'd be more than 50.00 but hoping for 100.00 Brad raises eyebrows and smirks...."30.00" At that point I did want to cry. I could've saved everyone an hour's worth of heat induced misery by donating the books...or just plain burning them. 30.00???!!! So, I sulked and I got mad and then I finally realized it was 30.00 more than we had and it was also 11 less boxes we have to move or that we have taking up space within the attic, within the brain and within our lives. Optimistic husband cheerily said...."Hey! Look at it this way. It paid for lunch!" I wisely kept quiet until my attitude improved a little. We headed over to friends for a few hours to eat and let kids swim and exert some energy before buckling back up and heading back home late into the dark night hours on lone Texas interstate.

So, with that I think I am done selling for awhile. I've got a few more things to craigslist and then after that the children's retail store taking place up in the attic will be conquered. I think I'm just going to go through that and take them all to FW and turn them over to Kid to Kid. I may not get as much as I would've had I sold them myself but it takes the brain work out of it for me, the time, energy, and effort of selling them and NO TAGGING in the JBF sales. But....no more Ebaying....for years. Think I'm done on that one. I have children that I'd like to watch grow up. Overall, we've made well over 200.00 on Ebay, over 600.00 craigslisting and another 200.00 just misc selling stuff to guys up at the station...and we still have more to go. Oh yeah...and the whopping 30.00 at Half Price Books. That'll be a sore spot for awhile.

But it IS progress. It's been enough to pay off two of our smaller debts, and begin work on the bathtub I so fitfully saw to rip out. We learned that an entire 1 piece replacement tub and wall combo is a mere 328.00. And I can do all the work myself with Grayson acting as my right hand man. We need to put up drywall...cheap....and and then can just go in and fit it over the existing tub and walls. We'd been quoted 10,000.00 for someone to come in and redo that bathroom. Granted, this is only the tub/shower part of it but the rest just consists of tile demo...which I am amazingly adept at...and replacing with some granite looking laminate. It did my heart good to check out our options and know how close we are to beginning work on that project.

So, that would be the long version as to my long absence on here. To sum up...my butt's numb, my eyeballs are shot and my head has an infinite computer induced headache. But, I have accomplished what I set out to do...and that is clean out and clean up. Hopefully, blogging will once be an enjoyable experience here in the near future...when feeling returns to everything that is infinitely numb at the current moment.

Happy 4th and Other Random Pics

One of these days I really will write again. But, for now, as I spend my days Ebaying...so far over 100.00 made there and still lots more to go, craigslisting...lots of money made there, making hairbows, and trying to get dresses made, time's a little cramped. So, this is just picture catch up.

On the pic note....if any of you are animal rights activists I highly recommend you skip the snake pics. Or...if any of you are weak of stomach....just skip it. The ONLY reason I went out there and even choked down the puke long enough to take the pics would be the fact that I couldn't resist seeing the bats. So, in all of my amusement I gagged a little and was quite enthused with it all. Who needs a science book??? Just take it outside for awhile. So far, he's taxidermied a pregnant possum in which something like 4 little ones came out and all sorts of other disgustingness. This experience had to top the list as far as science goes though....and gross factor.

When they should be doing dishes

A glimpse of a normal day

This would be Gavin and Ivye at work. To say the clean up was extensive would be putting mildly. My hands are still sticking to door knobs and windowsills.

He had 5 of these within him. Yuck, yuck, yuck...but kinda cool. You could follow them down his digestion track and go from perfectly intact and in good shape to mostly digested. The 5th one was too digested for the pic. On that note...think I'm gonna puke now.

Watching fireworks.

Wasting time. Everybody else was out running free in the ball field.

Twins and twins!

An absolutely all day affair to take apart, wash and put back together. Always remember...never wash carseat straps in detergent. Rinse with water only. Detergent breaks down the fibers of the straps and jeopardizes children's safety.

When you're having a bad morning and can't get anything done......

On a side note....I think she's a little outnumbered.

When all the spoons are in the flowerbed. Somehow he made it work!

Celebrating Daddy and Baby #11!

Celebrating Baby 11. The girls were so excited they wanted a picture of everybody with evidence that baby is on the way.

My view the majority of the day
We make our own party these days. Gone are the days of needing a whole host of people to have some fun. Well....not exactly gone. We've just reached the point of providing the host of people ourselves.

I think they're discussing if they'll both fit.

Evye's custom made birthday cake for daddy.

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

The girls with their thrill of the positive pregnancy tests....and no, I did not actually pee on what they are holding....nor is Ivye actually chewing on a test either. One has a cover. The other does not require the act of peeing on it. Ugh. So gross.

Infinitely in search of the perfect, spontaneous, group shot. I don't think we ever got there.