It’s been 7 months since I posted our news that we were expecting again for the 7th time in Nine will be fine. It has been a time of inner reflection for me. Our family has experienced many ups and downs. In some ways the time has dragged on and on and in others, it has flown by.

Had someone asked my at the beginning of 2010  if I thought I’d be welcoming 2011 with a new Edgling, I would have laughed. Yet here I am, four days overdue, having lived with the strangest sense of deja vu for the last nine months. After seven times, it just all seems very familiar and the pregnancies began to run together.  I calculated that I have been pregnant for well over five years!

In my original post, I was struggling with adding another baby to the family. It felt like going backwards. Everyone in the house could dress and feed themselves. Gone was most of the baby paraphernalia, we were almost out of diapers altogether, leaving the house was easier. Then we drew the Go Back to Start card and rewound all of that. Back comes the stuff, the sleepless nights, the feeding, changing…

…and the snuggling and the cooing and the excitement over each milestone, the joy of watching older siblings interact with a little one.  Just like in a board game when you go back to start, you may feel like you’re starting over, but you’re also getting a chance to hit all the good spaces again.  That’s what God’s been reminding me. That this appointment was divine – it has been all the time.  It just took me a minute, or two, to see it.

So now I find myself impatiently glancing at the baby bed in the corner, wishing there was a warm little bundle already there, ready to see what this time around the board has in store.

A photo of us on my wedding day, beside one of her many teacups.

January has not been kind in the area of loss. 3 out of the last 4 years have found us welcoming the New Year while saying good bye to a loved one. A year ago today, I received an unexpected call from my mom that my Nanny has passed away in her sleep of an apparent heart attack. It was just a few days after her birthday. Ice storms had prevented the family from getting together with her that weekend. I had mailed a card, but I am sad to say, I hadn’t called her yet, for reasons that escape me now.

There was much about my Nanny’s life to be celebrated, but there is one thing that floats to the top for me.

My Nanny was a terrific gift giver.  She would insist on shopping each Christmas for all the kids, grand-kids and great grand-kids, picking out something they wanted or needed.  No gift cards – no sir. The same went for all birthdays if you were under 18.  It always amazed me how she noticed little things about you that translated into a personal gift.  Even when we lived in another state and only saw her once or twice a year, she somehow still managed to accomplish this. My mom has inherited this knack for gift-giving.  And it has fostered my love for searching for the perfect gift, although I am still honing my abilities.

At the tea room last summer celebrating two of our daughters' birthdays.

She also lavished her gift in the kitchen on her family. She worked for many years at the Kroger bakery and could turn out a cake to marvel at. My favorites, though, were her mac-n-cheese, chicken pot pie and dressing. That was some good eatin’!

Her greatest gift, though, the one I sought out to earn, was her laugh.  She enjoyed a good laugh, but it wasn’t always easy to come by.  And much like she had to do her homework, know her subject to pick out the perfect gift, you had to know your subject to elicit a genuine laugh.  But when you did, it was something to treasure.  The laugh itself was unique.  Hard to say whether it was more of a chuckle or what.  It wasn’t loud or tinkly just a simple eh, eh, eh, eh.  The more eh’s the better.  I can still hear it in my head after a year. I hope I can keep it there, like a beautifully wrapped package, a gift to be opened and savored over and over again.

Thank you, God, for  Nanny and for the blessing of her gifts.

First up, Nanny’s Gifts.

I was really excited to get started since I’ve tried reading the Bible through in a year, but never finished.

So, tomorrow is already day 10 and I am a little bit behind.  I was cruising along, until I hit a patch of feverish nesting that left me too tired to finish my reading for a couple of days. Hopefully by tomorrow night, I’ll be caught up.  I picked a terrible spot to get behind since I am in Exodus and Leviticus where God is laying out the laws and the construction of the temple in great detail.

It’s definitely shown me how easy it is to get behind, even because of things that seem worthwhile and important at the time.  Also, that the best time for me is definitely in the morning before the whole house stirs! I might be able to squeeze a couple of chapters in at night, but only if I’m not exhausted!

I am still as committed as ever. I am amazed at how quickly I am moving through the books already and what a great overall picture I am getting. Hopefully at next check in, I can report that I have delivered on my promise to catch up and on my sweet baby girl who is now 4 days late

If you’re participating, chime in and share your experience so far.

For the past six weeks or so, I have had to put one of nature’s strongest instincts on hold for the holidays.  My mind was furiously making lists of things needed to do to make things just right to welcome a new baby, but I simply had to wait until I made it through everything that goes with having lots of kids at Christmas. There were plays and baking, shopping, wrapping, company and parties and as I look back, I’m not sure how I made it   It was a grand time though!

As we said farewell to the last out of town guests, a wave of nesting came crashing down on our home – more specifically on me (but you know when it hits momma, it hits everyone.)  Decorations put away, closets cleaned out, baby bed set up, baby clothes washed, floors scoured, laundry caught up. And that was just the first day – kidding – more like the first week. Yesterday I even managed what my friend Tricia has termed a big cook.  I was amazed because It only took me about 1 hour and a half, maybe 2 total.

It was a group effort. My oldest and her friend entertained the kids wonderfully. My sweet neighbor dropped off some aluminum pans for freezing that I had forgotten to buy. My back cooperated And for our efforts, we now have:

• Two batches of meatballs, from the Betty Crocker cookbook, for subs and spaghetti
• Two meatloafs, also from Betty Crocker, simple and delicious
• Two pans of my friend Kim’s chicken spaghetti (I add the rotel)
• A pan of baked ziti – noodles, sauce, meat, cheese – nothing fancy.
• A pot of chicken riddle soup for today, from the Kid’s in the Kitchen Cookbook by Pampered Chef
• And homemade chicken nuggets with a new family favorite – pastina pilaf  (on the back of the ronzoni pastina box)-  for last night’s dinner

If you haven’t tried a big cook, I highly recommend it. For not that much more time spent one dinner, you can make several.  Ease in with two, even, which means only cooking every other night.

Pointers to speed things up:

Streamline: I tried to make things that were somewhat similar, like the meatballs and meatloaf that share a lot of the same ingredients.

Prep: I had already pre-chopped my carrots and celery when I brought them home for the store, cutting some in sticks for snacks and the rest chopped and portioned for the soup and pastina. I also had slow cooked my chicken breasts and shredded them the day before for the chicken spaghetti and soup, saving a couple of raw breasts for the nuggets.

Strategize: Pick a time where you can be focused. My husband gets home a little later on Fridays which meant I had a little extra time before dinner, and with the teens helping with the younger ones, I was able to work undistracted. Saturday mornings can be a great time for this. Maybe there’s a project the kids can help the man with while you cook it up. Of course, the kids can help you, too. I prefer to do that one at a time, though, rather than a free-for-all When you’ve already made the bulk of the dinner, it actually makes having the kids in the kitchen during the week to help make the side dishes and such much more doable. Our kids each have a designated night that they help.

Now I can open the freezer and gaze at the fruits of my labor and know that there will be nights when I sigh with relief that dinner is already taken care of.

What do you think? Have you done a big cook?  Are you ready to try one if you haven’t?

These days I am feeling a bit like a soldier who has to be ready to go at a moments notice. I feel like I am trying to keep so many plates spinning, so that when it is time to go to the hospital none of them will come crashing down. My home will be clean, there will be meals in the fridge, I will be clean, I will have clean clothes to wear home from the hospital, my kids will have clean clothes to visit the hospital – it feels unending…and tiring.  You’d think after six times, I’d have it down, but there are so many variables.

At my last appointment, my midwife was already asking if we had scheduled an induction. I’m wasn’t due for four more days. I said no and that I wasn’t in favor of doing so.  I am and always have been a huge proponent of letting things happen naturally. As hard as it is to wait and as tempting as it is to have an illusion of control, I love that this is something only God knows. He already knows exactly when baby girl will make her appearance. He knows where I will be, what I’ll be doing, who will be with me, just as He did the last six times. And at the end of the journey, when we bring her home, I will see again that He is in control and my faith will be increased.

I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in His word I put my hope” Psalm 130:5

I’ve been here before.  This time has been a little different though.  For the last year or so, I’ve been walking the road of saying goodbye to new babies and giving birth.  No more sweet bundles or deliciously scented heads to smell.  No more watching siblings take to and love a new little one.  It was hard at first, but little by little, it got easier. I thought of all that we would be able to do without diapers, strollers and the works.  We started taking steps to make things permanent. I’ve struggled with cutting off God’s blessing in this area, but finally felt comfortable moving into a new phase, child-bearing years behind me.

We weren’t aware of any oops, until the time came and went. And denial set in, along with nausea, fatigue and congestion.  And depression.  So many plans I had for the upcoming year – some selfish, but many with my loved ones in mind – helping my senior with college plans, redoing the school room, getting away with hubby, getting in shape again.  How will I accomplish those things, along with the everyday and carry a baby? I’m not as young as I used to be We don’t even have a vehicle big enough to carry us all!

The truth is, I don’t know.  Some of those may not happen.  Some may look different.  But I know that if anything is to be accomplished, it will be with only by the strength and through the grace of God. Because that’s the only way I’ve ever been able to do it before.  It’s His plan and He will see it through.

Bill has been great.  He and I have sort of switched places from earlier years. Now I’m the shocked one and he is the one who takes it in stride and holds me up.  The kids are happy for the most part.  They just keep rolling. The 4-year-old asked at bedtime if the baby would be here tomorrow.  I think we’ll have to make a paper chain to help her count the days.  That’s going to be one looooong chain.

Me ~ I’m adjusting.  So if you’d be so kind if you see me not to ask me if we figured out  how this happens.  Obviously we have   And I won’t ask you if you’ve figured out what makes you overweight or in debt or rude.  That sounds harsh, but if you think about it, people feel like they can ask or say whatever when you’re pregnant, that they would never dream of saying any other time. And when you’re still dealing with the revelation yourself, it’s kind of tough to answer without hauling off and smacking some people. And I am not prone to violence.

If it were up to me, right now, I would cocoon myself , not come out for nine months and then just send out baby announcements. (It would be so awesome!) That’s kind of hard to do when you’re surrounded by friends and family and already have six kids who wouldn’t take well to being locked up with you.

We have shared our news in many ways with each baby, making it special.  This time, I decided that the blanket approach would work best for me. A baby blanket if you will.  Thank you Facebook for making this possible.  Family will have to forgive me for not making personal calls.  I just can’t do it (see above).  If you’re thrilled, feel free to comment, call, send meals   If you’re shocked, just sit on it for awhile and when you’re ready, when you’ve adjusted, then I’d be happy to take your call.

Just remember, there are many other things that are a lot harder to adjust to  than a sweet baby made in the image of our Creator.

I know I will.