PEANUT'S ARRIVAL

To say that Peanut is a blessing is inadequate. Words are hard to capture how much love we have for this precious life. And we really do consider her a complete blessing. Some call us crazy for the number of children we have. And we are. Crazy in LOVE, that is.

Last January 2009 (before we were pregnant) Tippy started to ask all kinds of questions. Questions like "How do you become a BIG brother. When am I going to be a big brother?" He was 3 at the time. I explained that when Buddy had been born, Puddin became a big sister. And when Tippy was born Buddy and Puddin became big brothers and sisters. And when Flower had been born in Ethiopia, Speedy became a big brother. Innocently Tippy replied, "So when our baby is born I will be the big brother." And mommy said, "Oh no, Tippy we aren't having another baby." (Insert God smiling and chuckling here) Later that day, Tippy insisted I draw him a picture of a baby so he could color it. AND he absolutely insisted that we wrap the picture up like a present and save it for Christmas (like 12 months from now). I helped him wrap it and honestly, it just got lost in our paper pile.

By April, Tippy said again, "If I could give anything to anybody I would give a baby to mom and dad." Independently from Tippy's comment, Buddy told me, "It would be really nice to have another baby." The day after Easter, Peanut's impending arrival was confirmed. I just think Tippy was listening to the whispers of Jesus sooner than we were.

When we told our 6 kids here are their reactions to the news, "We are having a BABY!"

Puddin: "Seriously?!?!?!?"

Speedy: "Yea!!"

Buddy: "Yahoo!"

Sharpay: "Are we really?"

Flower: "I'm so happy we're having a baby."

Tippy: "I'm gonna be the BIG brother."

Except they all talk at once, so it's sort of like this:

"Are we SeriouslyreallyhappyyahoohavingababyBIG brother?!?!?!!"

And then more questions, "When? Is it a boy or a girl?" And my personal favorite, "How do you know you are having a baby?"

My answer, "I took a test."

Buddy: "Can you take the test on the computer?"

But the best part of all is that later as I sorted through my paper pile, I found the wrapped gift that sweet Tippy had insisted on drawing and wrapping for Christmas. Want to take a guess on Peanut's due date? You guessed it - CHRISTMAS. So we opened that present this year and we continue to "unwrap" the real deal each day as our sweet baby grows.