Baby food....he's not so sure about it yet!

I have started giving Christian some baby food, and he just isn't convinced he likes it yet. He makes all kinds of faces. He better learn to like it soon....next month WIC is cutting back on his formula, and giving us 30 jars of baby food...and that formula he is on is expensive!!

My mom brought this car from her house that our older kids played with when they were little. I think Zachariah enjoys pushing Rachel more than getting to ride.
They make a great pair!

When the littlest guy sits up....

He has quite the audience!

Do they look anything alike?

People ask me all the time if Zachariah and Christian look anything alike. No, they don't really look alike at all to me. If you compare features, they both have brown eyes, and I think they may have the same noses. If Christian ever gets any hair, I think it is going to be dark, as his little bit he has, has gotten a lot darker. I think that just as equally Zachariah favors Leah, and Christian favors Noah.

I was thinking about this the other day. A lot of Zachariah's facial features are a diagnosing factor for his FAS. While he was being formed in his mother's womb, the way his features formed was affected from the alcohol she drank. Some of Christian's too for that matter. I wonder what they would look like had she not? I wonder if they would have favored each other more. I can look at photos of other children with FAS, and Zachariah favors them more than he does his own brother. I don't dwell on it, b/c he looks like Zachariah to me, the person he will always be, and that is an adorable little boy. I think all of his features are beautiful I just wondered, briefly, how different was the person he would have been?

will I ever catch up?

I always think, "next week will be the week I catch up".... I don't know why I think with 6 kids I will ever even get close to catching up with anything. Life is just going, going, going. I have just been overwhelmed lately. Not really overwhelmed as in, I can't take anymore, gonna go crazy overwhelmed....that is just an every once in awhile feeling, thankfully. I am a bit overwhelmed by all that I have taken on, just wondering if I am really handling everything in the best way that I can. I am overwhelmed with love, overwhelmed with worry, overwhelmed with the blessings that have been poured out to us lately, overwhelmed by the complexity of what FAS means for Z and our family. Overwhelmed by the world around us, the pain that some parents can cause their children. Overwhelmed by our sweet little baby T, with his permanent brain damage as a result of his parents, and all the other children that live in his facility. When we walk in there, we are truly going into another world....one that few people would like to see. I am also overwhelmed by the love my kids show him, and the fact that all those other kids there don't scare my kids.

I always think I will get to blogging more, but I just don't guess it will happen anytime soon. I just don't seem to have all the fun pictures and posts that I used to. With the kids in school, most of our time is just spent running, running, running. They love it though, and have done great. I can't really blog about all my thoughts b/c they are so deep, right now, it is hard to find the time to sit down and pour them all out. Seems like when the kids are home, I just act as referee...to the constant bickering and fighting, tattling....making me crazy...I think these kids need a crash course in love this summer.

I hope everyone is having a good weekend....we are spending it getting some extra things done around here. I will leave you with a few random photos, b/c I hate a post without photos.

I enjoyed the few weeks that we had some daffodils growing in our yard. These are my favorite flower!

Z really made a mess, huh? It makes me crazy that my kids will open the cabinet and never close it. And look who comes along digging???
So 2 girls just sat down right with him, and decided to enjoy a snack.

And.....we have some more great news to announce soon....I am just so excited!

sick with the stomach virus

I got sick yesterday with the stomach virus. The only reason I feel like sitting at this computer blogging right now is b/c I sat down to write one message to my hubby at work, and now I feel too bad to get up from this spot, so I decided to have a pity party instead.

I woke up yesterday not feeling well, but thought it was just from something I ate, as I do this often, and I could still function a bit. Clay left with the 3 bigger kids yesterday afternoon for a bit, while the 3 youngest took a nap. Then it hit me hard. I felt so sick, I couldn't even move. I layed there the whole time he was gone, and when Miss M woke up, I asked her to please just sit in the chair. Then I heard C wake up, and wondered what in the world I was going to do....and about that time everyone got home.

My family had to chip in, and care for things as best they could. As I layed in our bed that is downstairs, amongst the chaos, it was making me crazy that I couldn't get up. I had to keep calling out to everyone to tell them what to do, and just that was so hard to do. My house is a TOTAL disaster right now, and I only feel a little better....as in, I can sit upright today, but I still can't move much. And, Miss M woke up throwing up. I jumped up and took care of her, and asked Clay if he would please take Z to daycare, I would keep C home with me. Then I sat down, and realize the adrenaline had worn off, and I couldn't care for either baby today. So Rachel got C ready for me, while I fixed his bottles, and Clay took 5 kids to their destinations for me.

My sweet Rachel brought me a wet rag, and a glass of water right after I threw up yesterday without being asked. Now that is love. :-) I seriously considered allowing one of my kids to stay home and take care of me! I would have but they have already missed too much school from being sick, and I am sure this stomach bug isn't going to stop at just me and one child.

Check out my pictures...

Check out my beautiful Saturday morning babies www.blessingsforthegoodlife.blogspot.com

Saturday morning sweeties....

Makayla loves to play with Christian. You can tell she takes care of her siblings, so is very quick to be motherly to him. She is very good with him, affectionate, giving him lots of kisses on his head, talking to him, and playing games. I bet her brother and sister are really missing her, if she gives them the same attention she does to my babies.

I opened the blinds and curtains to take photos of Christian, went to grab my camera, and then captured her playing Pat -A-Cake with him.

I love this photo of her below, I think I am going to print this one out for the wall

Rachel joined the scene to make Christian laugh

You will have to ignore the nose and face crust on everyone....I decided wiping everyone's face first would lose the moment, and we have lots of runny noses around here.

I wish I could've gotten all 6 in this one...the big kids are having a blast in their newly organized big kid room. They are really enjoying their room together. I have always thought Leah and Noah make the best roommate fit...b/c they don't fight, and they keep things organized when they are together.

Then Zach joined the scene. It is so funny to me that I have my 4 youngest babies in a photo together, and I am still missing 2!!

LOVE this one of Zach. Good photos are hard to capture of this busy on the move boy these days. I think I will have to photoshop out the face crust, and print this one too.

Or this one, I can't decide

And this is what Zachariah always does with Christian, climbs across him....good thing he only weighs a few pounds more than him.

I hope your Saturday is just as blessed, and your heart is overflowing like mine is!!