Alexander's Charming Way

I know that Alex (Zander) has found a special place in many's hearts and so I'll share the answer to the question that all keep asking me "how is Alex handling a new baby"?

Alex is smitten: pure and simple. This little girl has wrapped her big brother around her finger and it took less than a day to accomplish.

Alex's big deal lately is NAMES. One day he told us all "I'm not Alex". "I'm Zander". That lasted a few days. I think he was tired of hearing "Alllllleeeexxx" and thought being Zander would take care of the problem. He discovered that "ZZZZAAAAANNNNDDDERRR" had the same results as "ALEXXXX". Then he began to tell us he was not Alex or Zander "I am ALEXANDER".....we never know who the little guy is. This fascination with names has carried over into reading - where he stops us to point to characters and ask us their name; into every day life where he finally calls Breanne BREANNE instead of Krista;and he's even corrected us. In a silly moment I called Mike a "stud muffin" and Alex looked alarmed and quickly said, "Mom - that's not a Stewed Muffin - that's MIKE". :::snort:::


Alex's new love is computer games. He plays them by the hours. We have to watch his time as he gets to involved. We have no idea HOW but he will get up in the a.m, boot up the computer, ENTER THE PASSWORD, insert the cabella hunting game and go bear or moose hunting. It would appear that this love of hunting is warring with his responsibility and love of Stacia. He is very attentive. Runs when she peeps and lets us know that WE need to run as well. I was watching one day when Stacia began to whimper....yep...here came our streak of energy....direct from hunting bears....he ran up to Stacia, got down in her face and said, "Sorry STECIA.....I'm BIZZZY".

We still haven't convinced him that he needs to be potty trained...but it will come.

STACIA'S FIRST BIRTHDAY PARTY

The kids made a ladybug cake...never knowing Rose would call Staica "ladybug" immediately after her birth...a nickname in the making....
Who would have guessed Jared would one day be our "middle child"?
Jamin & Stacia
Josiah notices she's a bit more wobbly than a football.

Cool cars - how did she know?

It's our family tradition to welcome each new baby with a birthday party at the hospital. The kids spend the day while I'm in labor baking a cake and such. They then bring the cake, the sparkling cider and THEMSELVES to meet the new baby and celebrate the very first birthday. We are create quite a stir but we've never had a nurse complain. The kids are always so cute filing cautiously into the room....we sing happy birthday, we enjoy the juice and cake, the kids meet the new little one and THEN....our babies are so very smart!!!! They always have the perfect gift to give each of their older siblings at the party.

Above are pictures from Stacia's birthday party! She gave the girls silver picture frames to fill with a picture of her and take with them. She gave Josiah and Jamin gift cards to the movie theater; Jared a computer game where he gets to create an amusement park and then watch how much money he can make; Arielle received a REAL silver charm bracelet complete with BIG SISTER charm; and Nolan and Alex each got a radio control car. She also gave us a family gift of a movie night to watch Narnia when it comes out. What a very thoughtful girl. Oh yes.....and a very special gift for Mike and I but I'll share that along with pictures in the next day or so.

STACIA'S FIRST TWO WEEKS AT HOME

Mike with the younger set

3 days old



Alex, Arielle & Nolan watch over Stacia

Krista combines her two favorite pastimes....reading a Nero Wolfe mystery and holding Stacia.

I KNOW you hear this all the time but Stacia has been smiling since minutes after she was born....here she is at 2 weeks. They are hard to catch.

I'm not so sure about THIS!!!!

Shew - survived the dreaded bath

Arielle LOVES to be a big sister (Stacia - 2 1/2 wks)

Stacia's Birth Story

There are many things I could begin with...photos of our move, stories of moving in a new home, deer sightings, trips to visit friends and more....but many are asking for pictures and details of Anastacia's birth...so here you go....

The picture to the left....though not great...will give you the low down...16 August at 5 a.m. and I'm very ready to have a baby. We head to the hospital. Shortly after 6 a.m. they begin an iv of pitocin. Dr. Adams was due in to break my water at 9 a.m. She came in and was told they were ready to give me an Epidural and so she went across the street to her practice and I got an Epidural. This prolonged labor by many hours as she was not able to get back to the hospital until shortly after noon to break my water. Of course, who cares if labor is prolonged when you have an Epidural. After 7 au natural labors Mike and I spent the hours laughing, chatting, catching up on chapel news and discussing how strange it was not to be breathing, giving back rubs etc. Dr. Adams came back at 12:15 to break my water. She apologized for the wait but said she wanted to be sure I had the Epidural as she was convinced that when they broke my water things would go fast. They did. At one point Rose, the labor nurse, decided to do a check or some such thing and I heard her say something that sounded alarmingly like a curse. She said, "Your complete" and went to get Dr. Adams back to the room. By the time Dr. Adams arrived the contraction was over and evidently Stacia had moved back up the birth canal. Dr. Adams said (in a voice that made clear she expected this to take a bit longer), "well why don't you go ahead and push through the next contraction and we'll see what happens".

The next contraction began, I pushed, Dr. Adams said "Oh my," as Mike and Rose began to laugh. I asked if I'd done something wrong and was told that I'd delivered a baby girl. One push and Stacia was born....if we do this again it may take a hiccup!

Stacia - minutes after birth

It didn't take long to see that Stacia doesn't have Downs and has a "perfectly, beautiful" heart. She'll have a renal ultrasound in a month to be "completely sure" her kidneys are fine. A highlight of this birth experience is that Krista spent both nights in the hospital with Stacia and I. I was a bit nervous about the cockroaches I saw in the shower....and they do all rooming in and I was a bit tipsy that first night. The second night we just watched chick flicks and ate chocolate. Ah girls night out.

I have tons of pictures to add here but I can't seem to get them to work right with the text. I think I'll go try another one with just photos....oy vey!

Testing....Testing

This Labor Day we aren't doing a lot of typical family fun things....hopefully this is the last day of my bed rest and we can enjoy the rest of the "summer". There is talk of Mike and the kids going to the lake or finishing the big flag football game that they began last night. Stacia and I will stay home and enjoy reading the latest "Hannah Swenson" mystery....at least bed rest has been good for catching up on reading.

I'll probably come back on and play with this while they are gone....try to get some recent pictures of Stacia up and out.

The picture to the right is of our family in front of Mt Denali - obviously, not this Labor Day. Though TX is wonderful, we've not seen this type of scenry down here yet.

Super Size Saturdays - Guidelines

Super Size Saturday is planned to be a regular feature on Choosing Joy. I've been asked to make it a carnival....here we go. SSS is not a meme - I don't plan to post questions for you to answer or rules about tagging etc. I will try to share something weekly about raising a Super Size Family. Check back weekly to read my thoughts and find links to what others have to share.

Most often you will be able to use ANY post on ANY topic that YOU feel is applicable....some weeks will be themed. It is my hope that this feature will not only bless large families, but families of all sizes. Why title it Super Size Saturdays, then? Because I receive a lot of questions about how a "large family REALLY works." ::snort:: Super Size Saturday is a catchier title than "thoughts for anyone who wants to read them about my unusual family", don't you think? ::snort::

Visit here for past SSS archives and to read more about my heart for SSS.

Here are a few fairly common sense guidelines to help the carnival run smoothly. If you've participated in other carnivals/memes the routine will be familiar.

1. What is a blog carnival and Super Size Saturday specifically?

As mentioned above, this is a blog carnival and not a true meme. Click here if
need to read more about that topic. In a nutshell, you post a little tip or thought on something that would be helpful to those raising a large family. You read MY weekly post, go to the comment section of that post, and leave a link to YOUR POST. Yes,
you can use old posts. No, I don't mind if you use the same post for SSS that
you've used for other memes/carnivals - AS LONG AS THE SUBJECT MATTER IS G RATED AND IN SOME WAY PERTAINS TO SUPER SIZE FAMILIES.

2. You do NOT need to ask me before you participate. Just choose a Saturday and leave a link.

3. You do NOT need a blog to participate.

Simply leave a comment in the comment section if you'd like to leave a thought
and either don't have time to post on your blog, or don't have a blog.

4.You do not have to be of any particular faith, family size, educational bent etc to participate. If you have thoughts or a tip that would be helpful, please participate. I'll take advice from anyone. ::snort::

5. Yes, you can use the graphic at the top of this post.

Please save the graphic to your hard drive first. Feel free to use it in your
side bar. Please link back to the SSS
heart/archive page or the current weekly post. You can learn how to insert a
clickable image to your blog here.

6. No, you do not have to use the SSS graphic, or host it in your side bar to participate. If you do, thanks for helping to spread the word. More participants benefit us all.

7. Please do not leave a link if you've not written a SSS post. Please mention
SSS in your post and link back to our archive page. I will delete empty links (links not accompanied by appropriate posts or linked to the front page of your blog).

8. Please link to your POST and NOT your blog's front page.

Linking to your post makes it much easier for readers to find the specific
article they are interested in reading. If you need instructions on how to link to a specific post (Permalink) read this.

9. Contrary to popular belief I am NOT a Computer Geek! ::snort:: I often have to ask others or read tutorials to figure out how to do various things. Please check your blogging platform or Blogging Basics 101 for specific answers to your questions.

10. Please enter a short description of your post with your link. We're sure to start small, but as we grow it will be easiest for others to find the info they desire if they know what your post is about.

Examples: De'Etta @ Choosing Joy (storage tips)

Or

Mary (date nights)

Or

Cindy (scrapping your story)

Or

Jodi (small appliances)

11. I'll try to have SSS posts up by midnight Friday (frequently a few hours earlier). I'll close the links Saturday night to avoid spammers.

12. I will delete any links that I deem to be inappropriate. It's my blog, my decision will be final. I do strive for a family rated blog.

Choosing Joy!
©2009 D.R.G.

Super Size Saturdays - Heart & Archive

It is my heart to be an encouragment to moms in the trenches. I'm there...though my family is shrinking. I currently have six children who live at home. We have a total of nine children.

I'm often asked questions about our family: we are a bit "odd". We are quiverful, we homeschool, we bake our own bread, our girls are currently single and living far away from us ( with our 100% blessing), we tend heavily to grace based parenting, we are an Air Force family, we eat crunchy, I submit wholeheartedly and usually joyfully to Mike, but am also a licensed pastor at HIS urging ...we don't fit most boxes. (Feel free to share what other boxes we may not fit and I'll add them to the list. LOL)

HOWEVER - those who know us have blessed us by repeatedly commenting on the HEART of our adult children and asking how "you got them to that point". I used to simply say, "it's the grace of God". Which is TRUE!!!!! Oh, His grace! I still like that answer best. Another answer I used to give is "it takes a lot of WORK!" I was challenged by a godly mentor at a pastor's conference a year ago to begin to give more of an answer when asked. Why? She felt (after observing our adult daughters in service and worship) that we had heard specific words on how to raise and mentor our children and that people are honestly wanting to hear what we have learned on our journey.

I had earlier begun "big family myths" on the blog. I had also addressed various issues as I was asked. I'm sort of combining it all here under a new title...with a deadline.

My heart is to encourage. I suspect that some with "small" famlies will be as encouraged as those with "super size" families. Afterall, if YOU feel like you have a super size family - you do! ::snort::

I'm quite sure I won't make deadline EVERY Saturday....so let's exhibit some grace from the start and aim for "most Saturdays" or even "many Saturdays. ::snort::

I'm considering having a carnival by the same name tied to the blog eventually. This would give the opportunity for others to share THEIR thoughts and link to one spot so others could find it. The logo is still a work in progress...eventually I hope to have it as a clickable graphic (linking back here) that you can upload to your blog. Feel free to save the graphic to your harddrive and make it clickable yourself if you know how...

Guidelines for Super Size Saturday.

Schedule for 9 May - 4 July.

I'll link posts here and put the page in the sidebar so they are easy to find. In the next few days/weeks I'll transfer most the big family myths to this page.

You Know You're a Large Family When...

Meeting Individual Needs in a Large Family

Schooling Without a Schedule - first posted on Home School Blog Award by moi

Summer Project - first posted on Home School Blog Award by moi

Teaser

Logo choices and credits

Joyful Mothering

The Wise Woman

Cool Treats for HOT days

The Power of 15 Minutes

Of Chores and Checklists

Taming the the Family Schedule

The Power of a Vision - Young Adults

Storage Solutions - Backwards SSS

Table Solutions

Road Trips with Children

Games!

©2007 - 2009 D.R.G.