Getting close...The Name

So as we get closer to meeting our little Pete, the one thing that has occupied my mind for the past week or so has been his name. No, as I've said before, it's not Pete...we're not entirely sure how that got started but he's been Pete pretty much since we found out he was a Pete and not a Pete-ette. :)

We have 2 or 3 front runners, all of which I like very much. But at this point in the pregnancy with the other boys, I feel like I had settled on THE NAME and felt done with it.  And I'm not really one of those people that has to wait to see the baby to decide...I feel like we pick a name we love and the baby starts to look like that name.  So unfortunately I'm not going to share the frontrunners but I'd love to get some input on how you go about picking names, and if you have a brilliant suggestion for the perfect baby boy name...bring it on! :)

Name to be revealed once this precious little guy makes his debut (not because I'm trying to hide it from you dear ones, but because I'm afraid it may change at any moment!)

Happy Sunday friends.

A Tate-ism

I'm going to get Mother of the Year this year for my educational abilities in teaching my children both religion and history accurately. From Tate yesterday as he was looking at a $1 bill...

Pointing at the picture on the bill "Mom, who dat guy?"
Me: "That's George Washington. He was our first president."
Tate: "George Washington died on the cross for our sins. Why he on a dollar bill?"

Close buddy...so close... :)

Happy Wednesday!

Summer dreaming...

Tate to me as we were bracing ourselves against the below-zero wind chills today: "Mom, I don't want to stay here any more. I want to go to Minne-SODA!" Little does he know what Minnesota feels like right now compared to Iowa...but I hear where he's coming from. We want to escape, go to our "happy place" and just BE...

Ahhh...summer...we can't wait!

Yes, this picture is the view of our lake from up by the house...it is really that dreamy.

Still here...

We're still here, alive and kicking! One of the HARDEST things about having a big family? Two words: stomach flu.  Because when one person gets it, you just hold your breath until the dominoes start falling and it's gone through all of us. So that's been our last 10 days but thankfully we are over it! All 7 of us got nailed and very unfortunately, Buck and I both got it on the same day (and Charlie later that day!). We were SO thankful to have Aunt G and my mom help us care for the monkeys as we were in no shape whatsoever to meet the needs of anyone.  Case in point: I was drifting in and out of sleep/nausea on the couch in the family room when it came to my awareness that it was awfully quiet. When you have a 1-year-old, 4-year-old and 6-year-old in the same room with you and it is quiet...take my word for it...you must investigate. Turns out that Zoe had been feeding Mia chocolate frosting with a spoon, straight out of the can. "But, Mom, she really likes it!" :) Zoe truly thought she was being helpful. Mia literally smelled like a batch of cookies...and I think her life has forever been changed by the realization that chocolate frosting exists. 

However, in the midst of the sickness, there were sweet glimpses of beauty and compassion. Watching the kiddos care for each other was precious. When Tate got sick, Max ran to get him the iPad so he could lay on my bed and have something to do, and Charlie ran to get him a cold washcloth for his neck. When Mia got sick, Max and Zoe brought me clean towels and blankets to wrap her up in. When I got sick, the kids (all on their own) made me get-well cards. :) So while yes, it is hard to have a big family and have 7 sick people, it is SUCH a blessing to have all these little helpers who show love and genuine compassion...moments like these make me think we can get through anything together!