Kenzie's Welcome

Here's Kenzie's welcome home sign.

More Adam Pics

We had a minor scare last night. Adam was taken for some chest xrays because his lips would turn blue on occasion and he was sleeping too much. His xrays turned out okay, and today he is just perfect, no blue, just pink. And he's more active. Vicki had gotten a good dose of epidural drugs that may have affected Adam for a while.

This morning, I took the kids for a visit, except Alex, who went to school. I made sure Alex got to see his brother last night, but Connor didn't get home 'til 10:30. So, here's Connor and Keary with Adam.

Adam Pictures

Here he is, folks. Born today 2:09 pm; 9 lbs., 6 oz; 20 inches; and purple.

Adam Something?

Well, tomorrow is the big day. Another birthday for me to try to rememeber. While Connor and Alex are in Delaware, assisting at the Bishop's Instalation ceremonies, Mommom will watch the rest of the crew while Vicki and I head over the bridge for baby delivering. We stil don't have a definite name picked out, but it looks like the first name will be Adam. I know, it doesn't make sense to have the First Man's name be our eighth kid's name, but I think we've all agreed on the first name. The next decision is the middle name. Paul, Daniel, or Joseph are the top choices right now. I know, some weirdos like me automatically think "twelve" as in Adam Twelve, the old TV show, but now I'm showing my age. It won't be Adam Twelve (or even Adam Eight), I can guarantee that. Now, if he was the twelfth kid, I wouldn't be able resist.

So, pray for us tomorrow. Let's hope it all goes as well as it has the last six times we visited the maternity ward. Send us you mental choices: Adam Paul, Adam Daniel, or Adam Joseph. I'll let you know which one wins when the Birth Certificate is complete.

Nelly

I am not a big fan of Rap, Hip-hop, or whatever they call that stuff that's labelled 'music' nowadays, but I have been sold on one particular song that, at first listen, I didn't like. I lean toward Christian and Country so I rarely have occassion to hear a singer called Nelly.

I was looking for a good, heart-pumping, song to play on our new softball website; something that also included a message relevant to playing club-level softball. I was at a loss because my music is just not geared toward your average 10-12 year old softball player. Kenzie came to the rescue. She made me listen to one of her favorite songs; one that was part of a compilation that she received from a team we played (Oaklawn Ice) at the NSA World Series. As I said, at first I cringed, but I managed to sit through the entire four and a half minutes. What caught my ear was the chorus. It described McKenzie, and all her teammates, and almost every girl I've met in travel softball. the rest of the song isn't bad, either; it even mentions the Baltimore Ravens and Ray Lewis.

Here's the chorus from "Heart of a Champion", by Nelly:

Ain't no way they can stop me now Nelly
Cause I'm on my way, I can feel my ring coming
It's the blood of a champion, pumping
Deep inside my veins, too much pride to be running
I'ma get what I can and more, even if
My blood, my sweat, and my tears don't mean nothing
It's the heart of a champion (it's the heart of me)
(It's the heart of a..) in me
 
This really describes McKenzie's approach to her sport. It's why I'm so proud of her.

New Due Date

Due to our busy schedule of softball (several days a week), soccer (four kids playing, including two travel teams), football, piano, etc, we decided that the best day to have a baby would be a Monday. The only thing affected would be piano, and I'm hoping I'll be able to get Kenzie to softball practice on Tuesday. The hospital is kinda in the neighborhood; at least it's in the same county as the field. So, with the doctor's blessing, we chose this coming Monday to induce baby's arrival. New due Date: 9/8/08. With the delivery date looming, we are now feeling a bit of name desparation. There has been no obvious choice for this boy. It was easier to choose with the older kids; there were more names to pick from, and fewer people around to include in the decision. Trying to get nine of us to agree on anything is harder than getting Barak to pick Hilary as Veep. If anyone out there has any suggestions, let me know, maybe you'll come up with something we can all agree on.

Chicken Girl is Back

We thought it was time to increase the flock. A friend of ours just started their backyard chicken farm by buying a couple dozen chickens from a hatchery. The minimum order was too many chickens for them, so they asked if we wanted any. We bought five, 6-week old hens from them. I would have taken more, but there were other friends of ours who were also interested in increasing their flock. They should start laying by the end of November and, since this is they're first year, they should lay right through the winter. This is good, since winter tends to be a slow time for egg production.

Kenzie hasn't left the coop or the run since we got our new additions. She's worried that the older hens are picking on the new ones too much. They just need to learn their place in the packing order (and grow a little bit more); then all will be well in chicken land. Here's some shots of our newest additions.