Introducing

Ian Mitchell

{Ee-en}

yes, I know it was about time

and no, it's never take us this long to name our babe before

thank you for your patience

...most of you {grin}

baby boy love

10 days old

deeply loved

occasional thumb sucker

swoon worthy lips

sleeps with us

wakes twice a night to eat

only heard you cry twice

starting to smile

nursing perfectly from the start

beautiful silky brown hair

8 days old and went on your first trip to the city

nursed in the sling at Target

wearing small fuzzibunz

hasn't spit up more than a drop

Vance holds you the most out of your 4 big brothers

9 lbs on our home scale

easiest recovery for mama

milk came in at 30 hours old

have yet to have your first bath

perfect smooth skin

umbilical cord fell off at 7 days

spend most of your days in my arms, in the sling or in your siblings arms

first 5th in the family

still nameless but hopefully the last day

oh so loved

in every way

words of the week

just a little of what I've heard from the kids this week...

He's a boy and he's ours!

Mama, your belly isn't flat... maybe there is another baby in there!!!

Oh, I love him soooo much mama.

He's the cutest baby boy ever.

God made him so-so-so perfect.

I like him more than you mama.

Let's call him sweet baby boy forever.

Mama, where is your belly?
pointing to baby Oh there it his. giggle 

He smells like sweet candy.

He's milking you.

Can I hold him, can I hold him, can I hold him...

I love him more than anything ever.

He is heavier than I expected.

He's our baby boy forever and ever and ever.

God gave us the best gift ever!

Can we play house with him?

I'm so in love with him mama.

He's so cute, I can't believe it!

Babies are such a special surprise.

oh his hands are so tiny, I love them.

Can we have another one?

ramblings of a very pregnant mama

still no baby although I have the any day feeling.
I actually woke up in the middle of the night with strong contractions and thought it might be it,
but I fell back asleep
...and i'm actually glad it wasn't the real thing.

You see, the sniffles and sore throat have invaded our family. sigh.
It's been months and months since we've had even the littlest bit of sickness go through our family
...and now its here and incredibly unwelcomed.

We appear to be beating it pretty good.
Lots of water, tea, smoothies, apple cider & raw honey tonic
and cuddles on the couch.
It could be worse, oh yes it could.
I just hope we can mend before babe makes it's entrance.

I really sort of wanted this little one to have a November birthday,
we don't have any November birthdays and already have a December.
I'm thinking that isn't going to happen now.

The boys are all home from the fields
...all except my hardworking husband.
Who is over 80 miles away today, eeek!
At least I tend to have s.l.o.w labors.

It just came to me last night as I was folding laundry
...I am going to be washing one more persons clothes
and diapers, oh my!
It will just be the new normal soon,
but thinking about it made me gasp a little.

All but 2 of the kids think the baby is a girl now.
My husband thinks it's a girl.
I think it's a girl or a boy. {grin}

I keep imagining the babe in my arms
the smell, the noises, the gaze, oh my!
trying to be patient here.

If you came into our house right now,
aside from an infant seat in the laundry room
...and my big baby belly,
you wouldn't be able to tell we're waiting on a baby.
My babywearing gear and a handful of outfits are tucked away in a dresser,
and besides me what else does baby need?
oh yeah, diapers. I need to order some newborn ones since I sold mine.

I finished my tea, my heating pad just turned off
the boys want me to come see their lego creations
and the girls are asking for help with a craft so I better run
or walk, or waddle, or scoot myself that way. {grin}

oh and I changed my picture storage and privacy settings
...you can still see the pictures on my blog, right?!

any day now baby

:: 38 weeks & 4 days ::

40 lbs. heavier

42 inches around

measuring 32 cm

{only because the baby is SO low it can't be measured}

2 cm dialated

50-60% effaced

still feeling amazing

...you know for being hugely pregnant {grin}

becoming increasingly anxious to meet this little one

but nothing like any of my other babes

I think it's because we have boys and girls now

I honestly didn't think I'd make it this far

...everyone else was born by now

Grayson :: 38 1/2 weeks

Vance :: 36 1/2 weeks {stomach flu sent me into labor}

Gavin :: 38 weeks

Ozzie :: 37 1/2 weeks {his due date wasn't very accurate though}

Eliza & Nolia :: 34 weeks & 6 days {car accident sent me into labor}

So it's really any day now baby

but i'm not complaining

i'll continue to savor each and every day this little babe is inside of me

...the amazement of pregnancy never tires

so when do you think this babe will make it's big entrance?

I'll update instagram first and my private facebook

you can view my instagram feed at the bottom of my blog

or if you want to follow me along I am brittanyclaireandco

baby belly catch up

playing a little catch up with belly pictures

:: 34 week baby belly ::

I feel big
but nothing like how giant I felt at 34 weeks with the twins
oh my was I huge!

:: 35 week baby belly ::

41 inches around
35 lbs. heavier



:: 36 week baby belly ::

measuring 35-36cm

hard to measure because the babe is low

38 lbs. heavier

41 inches around

1 cm dilated

50% effaced

babes heart rate was 140's

no swelling

few contraction

feeling quite a bit of right hip pain

sleeping well

slowing down but not nearly as much as with the twins

talked through my birth plan with the doctor

going for a natural water labor this time

delivering in the hospital with our family doctor

finally pulled the baby clothes & diapers from the shop

washed a few white onsies

the girls are loving playing with the baby clothes

:: 37 week baby belly ::

Ramblings of a pregnant mama

I'm addicted to raw carmel dip and apples.

Seriously addicted.

I made a triple batch on Monday and it's gone today. 

It's the perfect fill-er-up and is actually good for you

...so I don't feel too bad.

The kids and I saw what we thought was a badger the other night on our way home

...it was huge, and black and scary looking. 

My husband saw it later that night and confirmed it was indeed a badger.

After an hour or so of research we all now know a lot about badgers,

and we hopefully have nothing to worry about.
Although Ozzie keeps talking about how it bothers him to know it's out there.

I think my nesting has rubbed off on the 3 little kids. They completely rearranged the girls room yesterday. Moved the bed, all the baskets, their smallish book shelf & even moved their taped up art work to another wall.
If only they had the desire to organize the clothes storage too.

It was 47 degrees the other day and the little kids thought it was an all out heat wave

...I tried to tell them it wasn't quite swim-suit and sprinkler weather.

But they didn't believe me,

and actually spent nearly an hour playing in the sprinkler.

It has been a rare day to have all 6 of the kids home lately.

1-2-3 and sometimes all 4 of the boys have been out in the field,

working, digging, rock picking, rock burying, dirt moving....

the tractor-machine knowledge these boys have already blows my mind.

I was a born and raised city girl,

and I am totally raising country kids

...that know more than me sometimes. {grin}

I am 35 weeks today.

It has me a bit emotional about this milestone.

They girls were born at 35 weeks due to my car accident.

I wasn't ready to be done with that pregnancy and it was difficult

...to emotionally and physically recover from that ordeal.

But I did. And I'm incredibly grateful.

And feeling oh so blessed for each additional day this babe is inside me.

savor has been my word lately. completely savor.

I am still up and going, a little bit slower though

...and by late afternoon I am sore.

I can't complain though, this pregnancy has been so easy thus far.

I am feeling a bit smothered in this tiny farmhouse lately

and the thought of another little person needing their own space too. sigh.

I know we won't always be in this tiny house,

but we are right now and we have to make it work.

And really it's not just making it work I desire

...I want to be content with what we have,

content with what God has provided for us.

because really, it is enough.

I just emptied an entire month of photos off of my camera.

I haven't been using it quite as much lately.

Ebb and flow. Ebb and flow.

I miss it though.

There have just been other things calling my attention.

Grandpa has been in the hospital for 2 weeks now.

It's a blood clot in his leg.

They tried a procedure that didn't work and eventually did a bypass.

It's been up and down

...on the up now and hopefully staying that way.

With the big boys gone nearly everyday

...in the school of hard rocks as we joke

I've been spending a lot more time learning with the littles.

no set curriculum, we moved away from that type of schooling a while ago

but more life learning, soaking up more opportunities,

and letting their interests lead.
It's been a breath of fresh air.

The kids are getting increasingly excited about this little babe

We started a paper chain countdown,

which makes it seem really really not very far away.

Ozzie saw a baby at a restaurant the other day,

he spent most of the dinner carefully watching that little baby.

Later he told me all about the babies tiny hands and how they were clenched together.

He told me about his tiny nose and how he made squishy faces.

I loved sitting there listening to him tell me all about this baby.

He is going to be such a good big brother, again.

off to finish up the chickpea veggie curry I have cooking,
before the ever-hungry stampede of boys walk in the door.

talk to you soon friends.

:: 32 week baby belly ::

.stats.

measuring 33 -34 cm

40 in. around

31 pounds heavier

still feeling good

I've slowed down a bit though

If I am on my feet too much I start to ache and feel pressure and contractions

so I am taking it easy

by night I am done

at least I am still sleeping good

and having no back pain

my hips ache a bit when I sleep

but feel better when I get up in the morning and stretch

the girls are very adamant that it's a girl

or at least that they want it to be a girl

I still don't have a feeling either way

the kids are already talking about having another baby after this

wait, what?!?

I haven't taken a proper belly photo in weeks

so these instagram pictures will have to do

just for comparison here I am with the twins at 32 weeks

I was looking through photos of the twins when they were newborns

oh.my.gracious.

I am so excited for this little one

what a blessing it will be to have a newborn in the family again

late night talking

Gavin sprained his foot, badly.
and keeping him off of his foot has been insanely hard
...he is my go-go-go all the time boy and this has been torture for him.
Especially during harvest. sigh.

my garden is still producing like crazy
...and I am savoring each and every basket full.

the last 4 nights we've had at least one of the littles climb into bed with us
...they seem to snuggle up to dad more than me
I think they've missed him being so busy with harvest.

the girls are practicing their baby crawl and baby walk
...so they can teach the baby
they've also been rocking & singing their babies to sleep in their cradle.
I think they are practicing.

they gave my belly a hundred kisses tonight...
and then prayed that the baby would love them. oh my.

The girls and I took Ozzie out to the field to ride with dad this afternoon
...the combine was broken down so we monkeyed around in the pick-up
and when he was finally ready to roll Ozzie had changed his mind.
I think the fact that he had eaten everything out of his lunch box had something to do with it. ha.

Grayson has been out with the men from morning till night...
driving the pick-up, manning the service truck, un-hooking trailers, filling fuel
...and that's just what I've seen him do.

It's only a glimpse of what this farm is going to be like when there are 4 {or more} boys out there working the farm with their dad
...and that amazes me.

We had popcorn topped with crushed kale chips and homemade raspberry ice cream for dinner.
...because that's how we roll when mama is tired and already cooked for an army today.
The phrase barefoot, pregnant and in the kitchen has been coming to mind a lot lately. ha.

Feeding a family of 8 three meals a day is hard work
not to mention snacks and now all the packed lunches for the field.
I honestly love preparing healthy food though
...it's the cleaning up I could do without so much of.

There were 2 skunks fighting in the farm yard near our house last night.
they were screeching and spraying, oh my!
The boys shot at them with pellet guns and a pistil and the skunks didn't care one bit
...they finally ran off but not without leaving behind their nauseating stench for us to enjoy all night and most of the day.
oh, and I had left clothes out on the clothes line. sigh.

The kids are already talking about snow,
and making plans for what they are going to build in the snow
...oh and snow ice cream.

I am 28 1/2 weeks pregnant
...seriously how did that happen, it's going by so fast
yet so slow, I am still in awe of this little miracle growing inside of me.

This little babe has had the hiccups quite a bit this week
...which means I can tell that he/she is already head down.
All of my babies tend to go head down early and stay that way,
we'll see what this little one does.

It's been so long since I have sat down and just wrote
...blogging has always been and ebb and flow thing for me.
finding time to sit down at the computer is rare,
at least I have instagram now.
I guess that's how my life goes, and i'm okay with it.

that's about it friends
for now.

{25-26 week baby belly}

:: 25-26 week baby belly ::

measuring 27-28cm

still 38 in around

27 lbs. heavier

The littles and I heard the babes heartbeat at the dr last week

...their eyes were wide but their grin was wider.

They LOVE talking about the baby, thinking about the baby

and hearing the baby.

I don't go back for another check-up until 31 weeks.

My belly hasn't grown too much the last few weeks,

at least not noticeable growth

...i'm sure I will have a growth spurt soon. {grin}

Babe is already 14 1/2 inches long

and 1.7 lbs.

:: grow baby grow ::

still feeling great

occasional lower belly ache

and still having contractions

but I can't complain!

a few moments I don't want to forget...

I picked up Nolia out of the truck the other day and she said

"mama your belly is getting huge, the baby is going to just...just... pop out soon"

we both giggled

One of the girls was in my lap, being consoled from something,

her head was on my belly and within moments the baby started kicking.

She couldn't contain her delight and the tears were gone.

she said "the baby didn't like my crying!"

Nolia is still very adamant it's a boy, because...

"I saw the picture and it looks like a boy"

Eliza however is quite upset that Nolia says she knows

and I have heard them in more than a few arguments about this.

Eliza repeats "we just don't know, only God knows"

The girls are all about having their own babies one day.

You know, after they are grown up and get married.

They asked me at breakfast yesterday...

"is 6 old enough to get married?"

then later that night we went to visit grandpa & grandma in town

...and before I was even in the door they said to grandma

"you're too old to have a baby, we're too young to have a baby,

but mama is just right to have a baby"

sigh. my little girlie mamas.

I was in a store with only our oldest son the other day,

the cashier asked me if this was my first baby...

when I said it was my 7th she balked and said "seriously?"

and then asked how old my children were.

I told her I had an 11, 10, 8, 5 year old boys and 4 year old twin girls

she balked again and said "what was that again"

so I repeated myself a little slower...

she just stood there with wide eyes

and then said, "I can't stand the one I have, you're..... wow"

{23 Week baby belly}

:: 23 week baby belly ::

measuring 26cm

38 in. around

22 lbs. heavier

I'm officially starting to feel big pregnant...

it's becoming hard to bend over

and fit littles on my lap.

My toes are barely there

and my size large tanks I bought leave my belly peaking out.

The baby is wild

and I LOVE it.

Babe tends to love laying diagonal from top right to bottom left

...and it leaves my belly visibly {to me} lopsided.

Gavin, Ozzie, the girls & dad 

have all felt the little one kick now.

The girls like to sing songs to the baby

and talk about "the baby in mamas belly" all.the.time.

They are also constantly debating if it's a boy or girl. OY.

besides instagram photos,

this is the only one I have this week.

I'll try to do better next week.

So thankful to being feeling great,

sleeping great,

limited contractions

and no back or hip pain.

I don't see the doctor for another 3 weeks,

it's been 3 weeks already.

It will just be a check-up

...I turned down the glucose test.

I am still in awe of this little babe growing in my belly

...so in love with this little one we're going to meet in 15 weeks. wow!

Baby's first photo

I can't stop looking at this photo.

I am completely head.over.heels.in.love with this baby.

what a blessing.

{20 week baby belly}

:: 20 week baby belly ::
measuring the same as 19 1/2 weeks
halfway :: even though it's over half for me
and it's time for the glorious contractions to start. sigh.

still feeling great
sleeping great
no aches or pains
but apparently my uterus is irritable
...not surprised at all...
I've had contractions the 2nd half of my last 3 pregnancies

I can feel the baby moving and kicking more and more each day
and I love.love.love it
the girls and dad are still waiting to feel it for themselves
...soon i'm sure.

 and for those who asked about my vitamins ::
Multi-vitamin
Digestive Enzyme
Cod-liver Oil
Folic Acid
Ferrofood {Iron}
Calcium Lactate
Red Raspberry Leaf
{these are not affiliate links, nor was I compensated to link these}




now onto the glorious 2nd half
...grow baby grow...

{19 1/2 week baby belly}

:: 19 1/2 week baby belly ::

measuring 21cm

36.5in around

19 lbs. heavier

{I've gained 45-65lbs. with my other pregnancies}

we had our one and only ultrasound

our little babe was perfect...

squirming around and doing flips the entire time.

babe even flashed us a peace sign

and we caught a little thumb sucking.

baby measured 12 oz.

and it's little foot was 3 1/2 cm

head to rump was 6 inches

I am so in love.

and unfortunately {to Eliza & Nolia} we didn't see any girl or boy pj's

they did however say it looked like a boy

...to which no one else agreed it looked like a boy or girl

just a perfect little babe.

pregnant mama talking

It's official, I finally felt the baby move, for sure. I am ecstatic....

This pregnancy has been a test of my faith, in many ways. After my heartbreaking miscarriage in December I have let myself slip into moments of fear over this baby. I have no pregnancy symptoms at all.... if I didn't have this growing baby belly I wouldn't know I was pregnant. And that blessing has also been a curse... the what if's and wondering thoughts have sucked me in more than a few times. Even for just one minute. My prayers have become more frequent and Gods peace has never failed to pull me back up. And now.... this little one is finally making it's presence known to me. One little movement at a time. I am so in love.

I am finally moving past the feeling that I need to hide my baby belly. Sadly, not everyone has been happy about this little babe coming into our family. Our eyes are on Gods plan for our life and the lives of our children. God does not expect anyone to understand his calling in our life anymore than we can understand anyone else's.

The girls will be just over 4 years old when this baby arrives. This is by-far our biggest gap... and I'm okay with that even though oddly enough I struggled with the idea that Gavin ::our 3rd:: and Ozzie ::our 4th:: were 2 1/2 years apart. I guess I've matured in my faith... in that area. {grin}

Only half of our children remember me ever being pregnant.... so this is quite an awesome thing to them. I love that everyone in our family is excited about this baby. I have always said God gave our children {and us} the heart for a big family.

The number 7 seems so comfortable already. Every time I've counted our children for the last year or so and feeling like someone was missing. 1.2.3.4.5.6.... is that everyone. Seems like someone is missing. And now the missing one is one it's way. I am still in awe at how God starts preparing you for his plan so far in advance.

There are 2 other mamas pregnant in our tiny country church. Which is awesome, because when you live in the middle of nowhere it's pretty special for your child to have someone their age near-by.

I'm due for a baby belly picture.... even though I don't think I look any bigger. I was so good at taking weekly pictures with the girls pregnancy I don't want to let that slip by this time. So feel free to pester me if you'd like. {grin}

It just hit me.... I'm going to have to change the name of my blog! Oh my, what do I do?! My blog name has evolved through the years but never really changed... The ****** Family. 3 Little Men. 4 Little Men. 4 Little Men and Twins. 4 Little Men and Girly Twins..... now what?

Our baby is about the same size as the kittens right now... 5-6 inches long & 8 oz. The kids think that is totally cool. And I do too.

I think that concludes my pregnant mama talking, and if you made it to the end of this post... you rock!

{17 week baby belly}

:: 17 weeks ::

measuring 19-20cm

33.5 in. around

10 lbs heavier

...still feeling great
no for sure baby kicks yet
wearing mostly dresses, palazzo pants, skirts & tanks
craving olives, pickles, salad, protein, fruit & ice
taking multi, iron, folic acid, raspberry leaf & calcium lactate
girls are still only talking about a baby girl
Gavin hopes it's twin boys
Ozzie wants a boy or girl
Vance hopes it's another girl
Grayson is indifferent
I have no idea...
and we are not going to find out. {grin}