Gifts

Cameron smiles all the time.

He sleeps through the night - most nights.

He is a gift.

I am married to a man who I can honestly say is my best friend.
We are gifts to each other.

I feel very blessed to have these 8 beautiful children.

Our family is a gift.

My goal in life right now is to take care of myself and my family.

To raise our children to be kind and loving and to always be thankful to God for what they have and for who they are.

I love my life. I am thankful.

 It is because of the people God has blessed me with.

I have always called Thomas - Boo or Boo Boo. He was always bumping into things when I first met him. (Size 13 shoes!) And Tom has always called me Goose. (It was Silly Goose - and now probably more like Mother Goose.)
With each child we have come up with their own nicknames.
Brandon - Bobo.
I called him Bobo because his favorite book when he was very little was called "Where's Bobo?" It was a lift-the-flap book about a little boy looking for his toy clown. Brandon's favorite toy was his clown named Popcorn. (And later his stuffed Elmo and his gray blankie.)
Ethan - Eepy.
I kind of copied the name "Opie" from an old tv show. We usually call Ethan just "E", but I needed to make it a little longer. Ethan wants to write children's stories, scary ones, and call them Eepy's Creepies.
Noah - Snowman.
Noah is a bit of a risk taker. He needed a cool sounding nickname. We would naturally call him Snowah in the Winter time - so I just lengthened it to Snowman. Sounds like he should be doing jumps and flips on a snowboard.
Rachel - Ray Ray.
Tom's middle name - and one of the reasons we picked her name (besides the character on Friends that Tom and I both loved.) We would call Rachel our little Ray of Sunshine. She is almost always smiling! Very happy, kind little girl.
Leah - Leah Pet.
Because it sounds like Chia Pet, so we could sing this name to her. She loves music and enjoyed when we would sing her name when she was little. Plus, it's just a cute name.
I also call her my blonde squirrel because she collects everything! She loves purses and bags and you will find everything in them. If something is missing, you'll probably find it in one of Leah's bags or purses.
Sarah - Sare Bear
(and sometimes Sarahcuda - like Baracuda.)
She is a sweet little girl. Very shy. Definitely a Daddy's Girl. She loves to cuddle with her Daddy the most. She can also be very stubborn and sensitive. She will do only what she wants to do.
Jacob - Faba.
I am not sure where this came from. I think Brandon started it and we all followed. We thought it would be Jed because of his middle name, but Faba has hung on.
Cameron - CJ (A select few call him Ocho - he is #8!)
CJ is from his initials. It fits him.
And all together - The Sherman8ors!
Or Shermies.

First Days

I held Cameron in my arms.

I looked him over. Beautiful.

I had expected a dark-haired girl and here I held a bald little boy.

(In my heart, I believe the little girl who hugged me on my bench and walked into the garden was our baby we had miscarried. Her name is Veronica Rose.)

Cameron James was a sweet little baby. Adorable. I was actually thrilled that Jacob had a little brother. His closest brother in age was Noah, and there is over 8 years between them. Jacob and Cameron would get to do a lot of "boy" things together. I was, I am, looking forward to it.

We called our children and let them know they had another little brother. Our girls had wanted a sister - mainly so we wouldn't get outnumbered by the boys, but they were still very excited to hear about CJ.

Unfortunately, a couple of our kiddos had fevers, so not everyone got to meet Cameron at the hospital. Sarah and Jacob had to wait until we went home.

The other 5 came back with Tom and our neighbor the next day. Our neighbor / friend

is a photographer, so she came and took some adorable pictures of Cameron in the hospital. Better get used to it - I love taking photos!

The one concern I had was with Cameron's eyes.

The moment he was born, I noticed something in his eyes. I tried to say something right away, but no one else could see it.

The next day I insisted that the pediatrician look at his eyes. She saw something too. I "begged" her to have an eye doctor looked at him as soon as possible. I couldn't sleep. I was worried.

An eye doctor came in and told us that Cameron had cysts in his eyes. He had several in one eye and a few in the other. We would have to bring him in and keep a close eye on the cysts. I told her that when Brandon was born I saw one on his eye, but no doctor would ever look into it and find out what it was. Now we knew. And thankfully it has never bothered Brandon.

We pray that Cameron's cysts don't cause him any discomfort or threaten his eyesight. And at first, whenever I looked at his eyes, that is all I could focus on. But in reality, Cameron has big beautiful blue eyes.

He is a very happy baby who is very loved.

He fits right into our family.

Cameron James

June 10, 2011 Tom and I woke up very early.

Tom's mom came over to stay with our children while we headed to the hospital.
We stopped by the store to buy the newspaper so our baby could see what the headlines and stories were the day they were born.
We have done this for all of our children.
When we got to the hospital they took us to the same room we were in for Jacob. It was one of the old rooms. Tom mentioned getting one of the new rooms and our nurse looked to see if one was available. There was, so we moved to that one. It was a little nicer - definitely more comfortable seating for Tom.
Our nurse got me comfortable and she started the induction.
My doctor came in. He checked me and I was 4 cm. He broke my water.
It was kind of funny because Tom and I both had our phones out and we were both texting family and friends when my doctor walked in.
We actually texted a lot during this labor. It made the time go by faster and kept my mind from getting too nervous.
Tom even had a "joke" bet going on with his friend on what time our baby would be born. If his friend was correct, he would get to name our baby.
(Ocho Octavius - because this is our 8th child.)
Still, it's a nice nickname.
Anyways, labor was going slower than we were thinking it would.
After awhile with pain, I got an epidural. The Anesthesiologist was awesome. He was very kind and made me very comfortable.
Around lunch time my nurse checked me. I told her that I was starting to feel pain again. She had the Anesthesologist come back in. He adjusted the medication and it helped a little, but not completely.
It is very frustrating when you have been pain free and then all of a sudden you are right back to having pain.
I was checked and still sitting at 5 cm. I had been that way for quite awhile.
Tom was getting hungry for lunch, and the cafeteria was about to close. It was around 1:15. I told Tom he should go eat - our nurse and the Anesthesiologist told him he should go too. I was only 5 cm.
Tom went to the hospital cafeteria, the doctor left my room, then my nurse left telling me to call her if I needed anything. I was alone in my room when I had another contraction. This one hurt! I put my face into my pillow and cried - and breathed. I pushed my medication button. A couple of minutes later, another contraction. Again, I put my face in my pillow and cried. I pushed my nurse's button. I could barely talk when she answered. I told her I was in a lot of pain. She told me she'd be right in.
Then another contraction. This time my nurse came in while I had my face in my pillow. When she came up to me she saw the tears streaming down my cheeks and was surprised. All day we had been joking around, and all of a sudden I was in some serious pain and crying.
She told me she would call the Anesthesiologist again, but first wanted to check me. She did. Then she asked me when concern in her voice, "Did your husband take his phone with him?" I said, "Yes I think so."
She told me I was complete and I needed to call or text him to hurry back.
I texted Tom. (It is still on my phone.)
At 1:30 I texted Tom to come back to the room.
At 1:31 he texted that he was coming. In fact, he had just taken his first bite of the sandwich he had bought.
A couple of minutes later, Tom came in. He held my hand while I was crying through another contraction.
Soon I heard my other doctor's voice - there are 2 in the practice I go to.
Both had been in the OR together, this doctor was able to leave more easily.
I heard him tell me I could push - I did. Out came a little bald head. Another push and I heard Tom say, "It's a boy!"
It was 1:39.
Jacob had a little brother.
We named him Cameron James - aka CJ.

Another Dream

We were due in June.

Since we are an "older" couple, there were more tests.

The tests went well. We had a few ultrasounds. I loved seeing our baby moving around. At one of the ultrasounds, I was laying with one of my arms over my head - the technician smiled and told us that our baby was laying the exact same way. And it was hard for Tommy, but I did not want to know the gender of our baby. So we didn't find out. The way I was eating, I really thought we were having a girl.

With our other girls, I would eat healthy - with our boys, I would eat lots of sweets.

And then there was the dream of the little girl.

I saw a dark haired girl in a garden of beautiful flowers.

Then I saw myself sitting on a bench (my bench from before) with my face in my hands, crying. The little girl heard me and came running. I felt her by me and when I looked at her, she put her little arms around my neck and hugged me tightly. Then Jesus appeared. The little girl got off the bench, still smiling at me, and took Jesus' hand. Jesus smiled at her and they walked back to the garden.

Before we were even pregnant, I told Tom I kept dreaming about a little girl trying to get on my "dream bench." The little girl was having trouble getting up on the bench. I couldn't tell why she was struggling.

After our 8th child was born, I felt I had an answer to this dream.

I will write about that later.

For now, this pregnancy was going well. Again, we did the nonstress tests for the last 2 months. This little one usually cooperated - it was the machine that didn't always work right.

I went in with Tommy to my appointment when I was close to my due date.

I was 3 cm dialated.

My doctor told me I could choose when to come in if I wanted to.

School was out that week, so we decided to go in on Friday - 2 days later.

My parents would be here to watch our other children.

It was all perfect timing.

Thankful

This pregnancy started out a little "shakey."

I went in and my doctor confirmed that I was pregnant.

(When I called to make my appointment, the reception joked that I had to stop letting my husband touch me. They knew us well - had seen me often at this office.)

My doctor had me schecule an ultrasound and bloodwork.

I remember no one being too joyful in the office. I could tell they were concerned about something.

My numbers came back low and my ultrasound showed me at 5 weeks.

We thought I was at least 7 weeks along.

At first I didn't worry too much because I saw our baby's amazing little heart beating on the screen.

5 weeks. A beating heart. Life.

But then they wanted me to go in and have bloodwork done every couple of days and my numbers were ok, but still lower than they thought they would be. So I started thinking back to when we had had the miscarriage.

The next week when I went in for another ultrasound, I was scared.

All I wanted to hear was "There's your baby's heart beating."

That is all I wanted to see.

And I did. And the measurements showed that our baby had developed another week. That is when they told me that the previous week they really didn't think our baby was going to be ok.

We sat with my doctor and looked at the calendar.

We figured out that we got pregnant "off" my schedule.

God had planned our baby.

What a beautiful, loving, and amazing gift.

We were going to wait to tell all of our children, but when a few of our neighbors found out, I was afraid that our oldest 2 would hear from someone else. I decided to tell them. Brandon was usually good at reading me. He usually guessed I was pregnant before I'd get a chance to tell him. This time, he did it again. As soon as I told him I needed to tell him something, he knew. I then told Ethan later that day.

The rest of our children had to wait. We wanted to make it memorable. We decided to tell them on Thanksgiving Day - since this was something we were very thankful for.

Everyone was in our Family Room (Tom's mom too) after eating dinner.

I handed Jacob a piece of paper and told him to take it to Rachel and Noah.

They opened it up and read it outloud. It said, "I am thankful that I am going to be a big brother." Their responses were wonderful. Noah was funny - he acted like he was in a daze and asked -- What just happened? Our girls were excited, even little Sarah. I got lots of hugs and kisses and tummy rubs.

(We have the whole thing on video.)

We were all thankful for the gift God had given to us.

We were thankful that the tests and ultrasounds all looked great. 

We couldn't wait to meet him or her.

September

A few months went by and we would kind of "joke" that we were

going to get pregnant again.

At this point, not really possible yet - until July. My body went back to it's "monthly schedule" in July. Thankfully it was after Wisconsin.

Then in August I was a few days "late" but that was it.

(It was on Jacob's first birthday.)

Jakey's first birthday was spent with family and a few friends. We had a party at our home and we had another party at Tom's dad's home. Jacob and his grandpa share a birthday. We celebrated Jakey's 1st and G'pa's 75th.

Anyways...

In September, I was a few days "late" again. I figured it was just my body adjusting, but after a week I decided it was time to buy a test.

I told Tom that we should check, so we did the test together.

Negative.

Wasn't sure what was going on, but decided that it was still my body just getting back to "normal."

After another week, I was talking to my friend on the phone. I told her that I knew I wasn't pregnant because I had taken a test, but I still didn't feel right. I had bought a 2-pack test before, so I told her that maybe I should just make sure. She said she would stay on the phone while I did the test.

The next thing she heard was me crying, "Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!" And all I could hear was her saying ,"I'll be right there!"

She ran over - and so did my other neighbor. She was scared because I was sitting down crying with my phone in my hand. Then I showed her my other hand with the test still in it.

How would I tell Tommy about this one?

Well, without giving too much information on here, let me make it short.

Since my body was not on a regular schedule, we were always wondering after being "together" if I was pregnant. Apparently we are a very fertile couple.

Well, the next night Tommy made a comment about wondering if we might get pregnant and I just said, "Well you can't get me anymore pregnant than I already am." It took just a moment for that comment to sink in.

There was some confusion, maybe a little panic, and then acceptance.

We were blessed with another child.

And now to tell our other children.

God's Plan

We were now a family with 3 daughters and 4 sons.

We joked that the boys "won" after Jakey was born.

He was our little tie-breaker.

Sarah learned to love her little baby brother right away.

She is so petite, so it was sweet to see her hold Jakey.

He looked so big next to her.

The two of them became great friends.

Noah was also excited to have a little brother. He had 2 big brothers and 3 little sisters. Now he had a brother he could teach "boy" things to.

I remember peeking into the playroom one day and seeing Noah in there with little Jakey. He was showing Jake all his dinosaurs.

Noah is very into dinosaurs.

It was cute watching him share his toys with his little brother.

He had waited a long time for this.

Every time I had a headache, people would start thinking I was pregnant.

I had a small touch of the flu once and there were whispers going on around us.

I don't mind that so much. I can joke around with friends, because they know that Tom and I have complete faith in God knowing what is best for us.

It's the other people who make rude comments or make us feel irresponsible that get me down. I know there are many who are nice to my face that talk nasty about me behind my back. I was/am surprised when friends from our church ask us if we're "done." Sometimes it is more like "You are done, right?"

And sadly, we noticed that with each new family member, we were invited to fewer people's homes. Fewer get-togethers.

But I get it.

With 7 children, we're a big number - and we're very busy.

Jacob was born right when the new school year started. It was hard to stay organized at first, but somehow we got through.

As Tom likes to say, "We always do."

And he is right. Somehow we get through everything. Our family is very strong.

And God has a plan for us.