Our New Babe

It seemed so far away for so long.

The due date.

And then...it was time.

Monday morning I snapped the last pic of my babe in my belly,

 and got a little teary eyed as we pulled the door shut behind us, knowing that everything was about to change.

I was induced at 7 a.m. & labor couldn't have been better.

Then at 3:53 in the afternoon our babe had arrived & I heard,

"It's a boy."

Then, you know I was bawling my eyes out 

as they placed my beloved boy on my chest,

 and it was love at first sight.

We were meant to be.

He was meant to be.

So new, so fresh, so perfect.

Baby Blue.

That's his name.

Blue Malachi Doyle.

Annie joined us first and she had been crying too.

Kelly thought she cried cause it was another brother,

but, she cried cause fierce love raged inside her too.

One thing for sure.

This little boy is loved.

Grandparents, cousins, aunties, uncles, &

dear friends all rushed in to welcome Blue.

Blue Malachi

Malachi is man of strength and integrity 

and we are blessed to have him in our lives.  

He invests in our children and loves them dearly.

Malachi is always the first cousin to hold the babes.  

Tradition.

And when Malachi is done we passed him around.

Even the littlest cousin (5 months) took a turn.

You can tell Blue loved it.

And at the end of a very long day I was left alone with just Blue.

That's the way I like to do it.

Just the 2 of us

for our first night.

Then, the very next day,

we put on his new hat,

and took our Blue home.

Where he is cuddled and loved,

by lots and lots of big brothers 

& a very proud big sister.

So that's how his story began.

Blue

April, 27  2015

7 lbs.  14 oz.

21 inches

(And as I took those pics)

Life's Little Surprises

I've heard it said, "Trouble follows him wherever he goes."  

For me it is true.

Trouble LITERALLY follows me wherever I go.

But, it doesn't just follow me.

It also goes before me,

along side me,

you name it...trouble is all around me.

Living with a pack of trouble boys is the most interesting thing.

The other day I got into my husbands car & found unwrapped tampons in his cup holder, 
just the cotton parts, 
"Hmmm...I'm not sure I want to know."

He replied, "Oh it's a good one,
the boys were shoving them up their noses,
they were telling me these are nose cleaners." 

And yesterday when I told the boys to vacuum up their mess,
 they walked right past my vacuum and hauled 
this baby in from the garage.  

Life is full of little surprises.

When I got home the other day I had to burst out laughing...

...my husband was patching the walls to paint:

but hey...it got me a much needed makeover...

Now if I could just get them to break my entry way light.  

(I'm actually not kidding)

Then, last week my washer was not spinning out.  I had to manually turn it to spin & drain after each load.  We started looking at new washers.  At the end of the week one night I told the kids, "Go put your shoes on."  I got to the back door & there was Bo...standing in my washer!  You can imagine I was not very happy.  The boy is too old to be doing stuff like that.  But you know....after that my washer worked, he fixed it!!!   Sometimes their shenanigans come in handy.  I almost put him back in it to take a picture!  But I didn't think it would be good to encourage him.

These little surprises are what just one little week of my life is like.

It'll sure be interesting to see what this babe I'm carrying is.

I just realized I might have 5 sons 7 & under...

...I'm not gonna lie....little freaky :)