An Announcement!!

For those of you who don't know, I am expecting.  We are having # 8 in December!
The kids were excited to find out whether we are bringing home a Christmas baby boy or baby girl.

 

It is a boy!!
What a great Christmas present.  We are feeling complete with six boys and two girls.  Little Eden's world is going to change in a few short months.  I am hoping she will be walking before he arrives, but we'll see.  Luckily, I am pretty good at carrying two.

We celebrated with blue ring pops and blue skittles.
Peyton cried when she heard the news.  Although she enjoyed the ring pop, she was sorry it was blue since she wanted another sister.  I understand completely.  After all, I thought another girl would round us out nicely as well.  Peyton has had time to warm to the idea and is excited to welcome a baby boy.  How can we be anything but pleased?  I sure love my boys and feel like I've been prepared to be a "boy mom".  I can hardly wait to meet our sweet little guy.  He was moving like crazy during the ultrasound.  Clearly, he is all boy!

Christmas is my favorite holiday and I am already looking forward to it since it will be extra special this year!

First Day of School

The first day of school is always bittersweet.  I know the kids like to get back to a routine and see their friends.  I love to see them learning and growing through their experiences in school.  Let's be honest, it is also easier for me to accomplish things when I don't have all seven home at one time.  BUT it is hard to let them go and be uncertain how things will turn out in their new classes.  This morning was especially difficult.

Carston started fourth grade today.  He was separated from all of his friends and doesn't know a soul in his new class this year.  He put on a smile, but he told me his stomach hurt and he seemed nervous.  I left him in his class and cried all of the way home.  I know he'll be okay and he'll make new friends, but it was hard enough to let him go last year when he had all of his friends in his class.  I am so proud of him.  He is a great kid and so smart!  We sure love him.  I hope his day is going well.  

Jackson and Peyton started third grade today.  They are in the same class again this year, thank heavens.  Jackson cried all morning and didn't want me to leave him in his new classroom.  (It is difficult for me not to just set up camp and stay with him when he is so upset, but I know that he has to be able to adjust to new settings and he always does fine once I leave.)  Peyton is like Carston, she puts on her brave face and pushes forward but I know she was nervous too.  I am sure glad that they have each other! Peyton is very protective of her brother and I can picture her taking care of him today.

Oh, sweet Grant!  He started first grade today and with his usual smile and finesse greeted first grade happily and with confidence.  He takes after his dad.  He was talking with the teacher, asking lots of questions and making friends even before I left the room.  He found out that his best friend from last year was in another class and he barely batted an eye.  He said he would be fine and waved goodbye to me as I blew him a kiss.
I hope all of those teachers know that they have charge of my treasures.  It isn't easy for me to entrust them to anyone.  I'm sure it will get easier as the kids settle in.  I think I'm the biggest baby of them all!  I'm sure I'll calm down once the school year gets going.  Thank goodness my Kindergartner doesn't start until Thursday.  Having to say goodbye to little Benjamin with all of the others would have put me over the edge.  I'll have to post again once he officially starts school.  He told me he is only excited about riding the bus.  At least he is excited about something!

Happy First Day of School Michiganders!!

My Girls

 

 I love these girls!  Aren't they cute!?

Eden today (3 months old)

I am smitten with this sweet little girl! Eden is growing up. She has started trying to talk to us and loves to coo and smile. She has gone from being pretty fussy to being fairly content. She amazed us by starting to sleep through the night two weeks ago with only a few relapses. I'm still in shock that she is my baby. None of the others have managed to figure out sleeping through the night this early, especially not all on their own. Eden is also getting faster at nursing. Originally, I had to plan an hour for each feeding, but she has only taken about 20 minutes per feeding over the past few weeks. She has reflux, so a lot of the food comes back up, but she doesn't seem to suffer because of it. She still has the characteristic Calder baby cheeks and weighs just under fourteen pounds. She is also very tall like her sister.
Eden is adored at our house. Each of her siblings love to talk to her and get her to smile at them. They even argue over who gets to hold her.
We love you, Eden, and are so glad you belong to us!

Eden's Blessing Day

My mom made Eden's blessing dress.  It was gorgeous.  We felt so lucky to be able to bless her in Utah with so many family members present.  Eden is precious and we are so grateful to have her in our family.  She is a much needed feminine presence in the midst of so many boys.  Peyton is in heaven finally having a sister.  We couldn't love her more!

Our Eden at 5 weeks

A sweet friend in our ward is a talented photographer. As a baby gift, she gave me a photo shoot with Eden. What a perfect gift! Last week we went to her house and spent the morning for the photo shoot. These are some of my favorite photos that she captured:

Eden cracked a smile, something that is happening more and more often lately. I love her cute smiles while I talk to her and kiss her soft, increasingly chubby cheeks.

Isn't she darling!? None of us can get enough of little Eden. She is such a blessing to our family! She takes up a lot of my time right now and I'm enjoying that, even though I've hardly gotten out of my comfy clothes/p.j.s in the last six weeks;). I'm sure I'll come out of my newborn coma soon, but for now I'm loving my time with Eden.

She is Here!

Eden Elizabeth Calder
Born September 29, 2011 @ 1:23 am
Weight: 7 lbs. 7 oz. Length: 20 1/2 inches
This picture was taken shortly after her birth.

She was tired after 22 hours of labor! My water broke at 3:30 AM on September 28th and contractions started shortly thereafter. I couldn't have been more excited! Mark and I were sure she would be here within hours, so we headed to the hospital at 6 am. I was given an ultrasound while I was being admitted and they discovered that Eden was posterior, which explains all of the back pain I've been having. I was warned that this could slow down my labor and ultimately make it difficult to push Eden out. Once I was admitted and given my room, contractions slowed down. Mark and I paced the hospital trying to get my contractions to strengthen. The contractions never did get into a regular rhythm, so at about 4 PM I was given pitocin (this was my very first time getting pitocin). They slowly turned up the pitocin drip throughout the evening, but Eden was stubborn and chose not to come until early the next morning. She was born at 1:23 AM on the 29th, 22 hours after my water broke. They laid her straight on my chest and it was love at first sight (really before first sight). It was an unbelievably sweet moment. I got to hold her for awhile but I had some complications after she was born and she was taken to the other side of the room to be weighed etc. while we spent some tense moments as the doctor had to go in and remove the placenta. Luckily, it all turned out well, but I lost a lot of blood.

I loved my room at Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital! The food was delicious and the care excellent. Eden never even left the room for the entirety of our stay. Her siblings were able to come to meet her for the first time after school on her birthday. I was happy to see them. They were so sweet with Eden. Here they are sitting on Mark's lovely couch/bed. Poor Mark had to sleep on that short, uncomfortable bed for two nights but he did it because I wanted him there with me. Thank goodness for good friends and Grandma and Grandpa Calder who drove all of the way here from Utah when they heard we were headed to the hospital!

Here are a few pictures I took of Eden the day after she was born while she had her eyes open.

She truly is a delight, which is what her name means.