oops

In the last post I had a typo. Of course I am not infinitesimally grateful for Samuel. That would be sad. I'm infinitely grateful. Oopsie.

Oh Baby

Just a little update on our littlest. He's 8 weeks old today!
He is pretty much my favorite person right now. (Besides Steve.) I love holding him and kissing his squishy cheeks. I love how when an unnamed preteen gets a little too sassy, I can sweep him up and go hide in a quiet room and suddenly feel happy again. Babies are the best medicine. He's perfect and I am infinitely grateful he is here! Being pregnant is the pits. P*I*T*S! I hate it! But the 9 months of misery was totally worth it.
He still doesn't sleep the greatest. But it has improved for sure. He eats at 10pm, 2am, and 6am. We are anxious for the feedings to stretch out further. But we're surviving.
He doesn't cry too much. Just the right amount. Enough crying to keep from getting neglected and not enough to make us cry. Perfect.
Did I ever mention why we named him what we did?
Samuel Timothy Bishop.
When we lost baby Benjamin 3 years ago, we made kind of a deal with God. We told him that if He would bless us with another healthy baby boy, we would name him Samuel after the Biblical boy prophet. The prophet who was the son of Hannah. Hannah was unable to have children and told God if He would give her a son, she would raise him to be His servant basically. And she did. And Samuel did become the prophet. Steve and I told God that we would raise our boy to serve Him too. I am not expecting him to become a prophet someday, but this baby is special.
The name Samuel means "Asked of God."
The name Timothy means "To honor God."
And our Samuel was asked of God to honor God. Perfectly fitting isn't it?
And another huge incentive on those names as you probably already know, they are my brother's names. Two great souls :)

Some pros and cons we've experienced with our adopted kids

Lets start with the cons that we've experienced.

*You're suddenly family with someone you have spent literally maybe a handful of hours with. Live together, eat together, do everything together and you just met. There's a big learning curve as you get to know each other.
*Your former orphan/s need to learn to trust you. This is a painful process for all involved at times. We are so grateful to know that this lesson has definitely been learned by our adopted children now.
*Your former orphan/s need to learn how to live and act like a member of your family. Again, this can be a painful process too. Another lesson we are grateful has been learned.
*This child who has known nothing but deprivation in almost every regard, now has a loving family, a comfortable home, and all the food they need to be healthy and satisfied. They go from nothing- to so much. But then they have to learn that the sky is not the limit. Just because you have food, doesn't mean there's an endless supply of food. Just because you have a car, does not mean we can have 5 cars, all fancy, like another family they might see. Just because we have money, doesn't mean we are filthy rich. Just because we scrimped together enough money to fly to Ethiopia doesn't mean, we can go to Disneyland anytime soon. Just because we love them does not mean we can give them their way all the time. And the list goes on and on and on. We didn't expect this lesson to be an issue at all, but it was. Fortunately, they get this one now too. Big emotional sigh of relief.
*The countless lessons to be learned about appropriate behavior: in a home, at church, at a concert, a movie, in a restaurant, with guests, at school, as an American, as a Christian, as a friend, in someone else's home, and so on. You have no idea how many lessons our children have learned in the last 5 months unless you've actually been through something like this yourselves. This can also be considered a pro, because in many ways it has been fun to witness them learning some of these things.

Some of the pros we have experienced:

*We absolutely adore our new children.
*They make us smile and laugh all the time.
*They are so smart and seeing them learn and grow so rapidly is one of the most remarkable things we've ever witnessed.
*Witnessing their "firsts" are almost more fun than seeing a baby do their "firsts". For instance, their first Halloween was my favorite Halloween I have ever had. Actually, I hate Halloween. But this year, I actually really liked it! And the day Hana brought home her first friend birthday party invitation from school...I smile every time I think about it. She was SO excited! And she burst out, "Mom! Will you call and say 'This is Hana's mom. Hana is coming to the party!' " Their first time swimming, biking, going to a store, a museum, etc. This has probably been one of my most favorite parts of having these children.
*Witnessing their emotional progress (especially Andy's) has been incredibly rewarding. Some may have thought that he had too much baggage and was too old to overcome his issues. But it's not so. He can learn. He has. He is really gonna make something of himself and have a successful, meaningful life. And being a part of that brings me more pride than almost anything else I have ever done in my life.

The Good Life

A few weeks ago, Steve and I would cheer at the end of the day "We did it!" Days were so full and such a challenge, we felt so accomplished at the end of each day. But with Samuel sleeping a bit more, and getting use to our routine, things feel a lot easier. Things feel totally do-able now, which is a great feeling. Samuel is now one month old and thriving. He is 10 lbs now and a total porker. We are all really enjoying him.

Hana and Andy have been here for over 4 months now as well and they are doing great. We had one very difficult month with Andy, but the last month with him has gone pretty well. They have learned so much, and progressed so much that we feel such joy and satisfaction with how far they have come. It's incredible how much their English has improved and they are doing fantastic in school and in every other regard.

The other day I took this photo of Becca and Hana sleeping together. These girls are so cute together. Such buddies. They each have their own beds, but they like to sleep together.
I took photos of the kids school photos with my iphone. But they are still cute. Look how adorable Hana is.

You should have seen the grin and pride in Andy's face as he brought me his very first school photo package. It was priceless.

We made cookies with the kids and it was MESSSSSY. But they had such a good time. Andy and Hana had never done anything like that before.

Told you it was messy.

Andy with his soccer team. He's really enjoying it despite all the games they've lost this season. We sure enjoy watching him play. He plays hard and is pretty good.

Another shot of sweet baby Samuel. He's a good baby.

This is gonna sound stupid, but I haven't been the biggest fan of my wedding ring in recent years. In fact I bought a cheap ($20'ish) replacement that I've worn a lot more. But I just started wearing my ring again and I was looking at it when I realized something. It has one large diamond in the center and 8 tiny diamonds around that one. For the first time I could see that it is the perfect representation of my family. The large diamond representing my husband and the 8 diamonds, our children. I love my ring now.

I am happy. We all are. What a blessing.

An interview with Andy

stats

*Stats for the week*

Approximate number of loads of laundry done this week *13
Approximate number of loads of dishes done this week *12
Approximate times I've swept the kitchen floor *21
Approximate diaper changes this week *70
Trips to the school this week *14
Approximate arguments I've had to break up between children *80
Amount of times I've had to clean up a child's vomit *4
Getting spit up on *6
Getting pooped on *1
Trips to the doctor *2
Time outs we've had to enforce *18
Meals cooked *7
Middle of the night feedings *16
Amount of times the living room has needed vacuuming *14
Actual amount of times I've vacuumed the living room *7
Calmed a crying child *too many
Late night "sanity" walks with the hubs *5
Hours dealing with homework *7
Backed into a kid's bike while pulling out of the garage *3

We are on our 3rd week of having 8 children and I'm getting a system down to tackle it all. I think it's a system I could get used to. Once our adorable sweet little Samuel is sleeping through the night, I think I will feel like a million bucks and be able to do all I've got with a little more vigor. But for now, I feel weary. WEARY! Exhausted, both emotionally and physically.

Don't get me wrong, I think this has sounded all too wimpy and whiny. Which it is. Let me say that I really do feel blessed. I love love love love my life! I wouldn't have it any other way. Cross my heart and hope to die! (Except for maybe a house with a 3 car garage and 3 full bathrooms. I know; I'm spoiled.)
My favorite part about my last week I would have to say is how many times I've heard someone tell me "I love you." I think my kids were sensing my fatigue and were doubling their efforts to give me a little boost. When you have 9 people that love you and 8 of them telling you so multiple times a day, you can't help but feel joy. And the hugs and kisses...I can never get enough of them. Especially from my sweetheart who has rocked it lately. I'm a lucky girl. But boy am I tired!

Baby Samuel's Newborn Shots (6 days old)

My very talented friend Jen Korth took these beautiful photos of baby Samuel. I love them! Check her out if you are looking for a great photographer.

Baby Samuel

All 8 Bishop kids together at last. (The kids meeting their brother for the first time in the hospital.)
And this photo below is my favorite of the little guy. 4 days old.
1 day old.
I think he looks like my little brother Sam did when he was a baby.
Coming home from the hospital.

Samuel is doing great. He is such a good baby. He's caused us no worries or problems. Our only challenge now is getting use to round the clock feedings. The other kids all seem to be taking to him well. We worried about Charity being jealous since she's been so spoiled, but she has nothing but love for her baby brother.
We are so grateful he made it here safely and we just adore him.

Becca's Birthday and Baptism

Becca had her birthday about a month ago now. She and I had a great date together to celebrate. She turned 8! As a result it was time to be baptized. Over Labor Day Weekend she had her special day. Here she is with her Daddy. Yesterday she said to me, "Mom, I know what makes me happy now." I said "Oh yeah, what?" She says, "Spending time with Dad." To which I reply, "That makes me happy too."
She loved her baptism! She was so excited that she kept getting fits of the giggles. It's funny because I remember being the same exact way when I had my baptism.
Becca is such a sweetheart. She wants to be good so badly that when she slips up, she can be crushed. She loves her family, and she loves Jesus and Heavenly Father. We are so proud of her.

My labor, delivery and something else, really gross, personal, and exciting

This is for those people out there that actually enjoy reading a birth story.
I'm gonna try and make this brief without too many details.

At 30 weeks into my pregnancy I was having high blood pressure. I spent one evening in Labor and Delivery that week while they tested me, the baby and monitored things. It got a little better at 31 weeks and stayed ok until week 35 when it went up again.
From 35 weeks to 37 weeks it was high, but not really dangerously, and it wasn't preeclampsia. (No protein in urine, organ damage, etc...) It was just Gestational Hypertension/High Blood Pressure. At 36 weeks, I spent a couple of days in Labor and Delivery for more monitoring of me and baby. Again, not an emergency situation, just watching things closely. They told me that at 37 weeks, if it was still this way, they would take the baby.
I hit 37 weeks this Wednesday. I went in to see the Doc and my blood pressures were pretty high. 160's/110's. They sent me down to labor and delivery to DELIVER! Woohoooo! I was feeling like real crud and was so anxious to get the little guy out of me!
They started me that night with pitocin. Unfortunately he kept flipping all over the place. He seemed to prefer being breech (feet first.) The doctors were telling me they would try and turn him, but if it wasn't successful, a C-section would be necessary. They tried to turn him, and no success. The turning procedure is NO FUN! They tried to turn him again a few hours later and it worked. Phew! But he fought to keep flipping around. They put a strap on me to try and hold him there and broke my water hoping that would make it much harder for him to move. Pitocin was still going strong in efforts to keep the little guy pushed down with the contractions too. I had an epidural thank goodness for those flipping sessions, the water breaking and all this pitocin I was getting. But unfortunately I spent almost 24 hours with very very little progress in the labor. This was another concern because once your water is broken, you must deliver within 24 hours or you have to have a C section. Finally I was dilated to 6. When I hit 6 cm, it seemed like about 15 minutes or so and I was suddenly dilated to a 10. Time to push! We were so glad I wouldn't need a C section! The doctors and nurses came in. I pushed for only about 10 minutes. He was out. He looked awesome! Steve and I were THRILLED! Immediately we were thanking God for this beautiful baby who we are still to this day wondering how I managed to conceive. He was not planned for and the fact that I got pregnant with him seemed like a miracle, or not possible. God definitely wanted this kid here. But having said that, I will say that I am determined to not go through another pregnancy again!!! About 30 minutes after delivery, I happily went to the operating room for a tubal ligation. Permanent sterilization. The procedure was no big deal. Quick and easy for the doctors. I was awake, with my epidural. Here's the parts I hated:
The room was FREEZING! Like see-your-breath freezing. I was shaking and shivering the entire time.
There were 2 or 3 doctors there. One doctor along with one resident and possibly a med student. I think this because the main doctor was giving a real play by play of the entire procedure. "You pull the tube out of her a lot more, an inch or so more...", "cut her like this..." , etc... It was totally totally grossing me out!
I could feel so much of what they were doing. I could feel the knife cutting me, I could feel the tubes being pulled up out of my belly and so on. It didn't hurt at all, I could just feel it and that totally totally grossed me out too.
Here's the part I loved:
When it was over I was inwardly jumping for joy that my childbirthing years were over!
So now Samuel is here safe and sound! We are beyond thrilled. This baby makes us intensely happy!
That's about it folks.