38 weeks

Today I'm 38.1 days. 12 to go until the due date! I could be induced as early as THIS Monday if I wanted to but I'm still holding out for baby to come on his own. I went to the doctor today and have made no progress from last week. That was a little discouraging but I know it is so close now that I might as well just wait it out. I have reached the point in the pregnancy where I am truly ready for him to be born. Babies were not meant to stay inside of you forever and as much as I love his movements, etc, I'm pretty sure I've reached my physical limit. All of our December birthdays and Christmas are over and Rick is finished with his last written tests for ordination. The kids all have new fun things to play with so we'll just stay home and wait now. We've washed all of the things that needed washing and I've packed the baby's things for the hospital. There is nothing left to do.
The only child I've gone into labor with (Jack) was born at 38 weeks and 3 days which would be this Friday. :)I have never even scheduled an OB appointment past 38 weeks and I made my 39 week appointment for next Wednesday. I'll update again then.

Christmas Wish Lists

Apparently Rick and I spent way too much this year on Christmas. Below are the children's Christmas wishes:

Kate, 8 - I don't know******
Claire, 6.5 - DreamLite ($30)
Henry, 5 - I don't know******
Jack, 3 - A hat (huh????)
Sims, 18 months - Mommy, Mommy, ummmm, ummmm

So as you can see, we could have spent about $35 and made everyone happy.

******Rick and my mom decided that "I don't know" really means: "I am perfectly happy and content with everything I have and couldn't possibly even dream of needing or wanting anything else."

To our 2 children who DO need something, I have good and bad news:
Good news-Claire, you are getting a DreamLite
Bad news-No hat for you, Jack

Kate is 8!

Happiest of birthdays to our dear firstborn!!

37 weeks

Today I am 37 weeks and 1 day. 19 days until the due date! I went to the doctor for my check up and have made a little progress from last week. As far as the pregnancy goes, I'll still feeling good. The biggest change from last week is that I am sick. I have some sort of respiratory infection and that is making me feel pretty bad. My doctor gave me a Z-pack and I'm on day 3, so hopefully I will feel better soon. All 3 boys are all sick as well. The girls are about to go crazy being stuck inside but Rick's off of work the rest of the week so hopefully that will help. I think Kate is having the hardest time of anyone. She has so much anticipation built up inside of her, it's just about too much. Her birthday is Saturday, Christmas is Tuesday, and then the baby's birth. She thinks it is "forever" until he is born and that 19 days is "sooooo" far away!! :)
This week is still "make room for baby" week. I've washed all of Hutch's clothes, blankets, his car seat cover, and his bouncy seat cover. Now we just need to bring his dresser and bassinet upstairs, install his car seat and we will be good to go. Next week I'll pack his things for the hospital. I never pack my stuff until it's time to go but it is fun getting the baby's things packed and ready.
We were all out the other day and I felt like a child was missing so I can tell we are getting close. I have even called Sims by the baby's name!
I'll be 38 weeks on Christmas Day but will be back sometime that week for an update.

Playing

36 weeks

Actually, I'm 36 and a half weeks now. At this point, those half weeks count. :) That means that there are only 24 days left until my "due" date. I still feel pretty good! The main "issues" I have now are related to changing positions. I am fine if I am standing up but if I need to sit down, it's a little hard. I'm fine if I'm sitting down but if I need to stand up it's hard. I feel like I need some sort of pulley system at night to roll over. :) I'm so thankful for this pregnancy and that it has been relatively easy at the end. This is an extra busy season of life for us and at this point, I am not miserable. Rick still works full time as a software engineer, is preaching weekly and teaching Sunday School, is studying and preparing for his final tests (1 written and then oral exams) for ordination, and pastoring a church plant. Plus, he has a wife and 5.9 children. So I'm glad I still feel like bearing my share of responsibility around here. That hasn't always been the case in previous pregnancies in the last weeks. I am starting to want to stay around our home more and not get out as much, but that has more to do with nesting and trying to rest as much as possible.
Next week is make room for baby week. I hope to wash all of Hutch's clothes and blankets, get his little bed ready, and put his car seat in our car. Our 8 passenger Yukon XL will officially be full at that point!
Will update again at 37 weeks!!

And, he's 3...

John Richard Hutchinson

My big 3 year old! 

Simon - 18 months

Happy 1/2 Birthday Baby Boy! 

35 weeks

We've passed the 35 week mark! This means that in a little over 4 weeks, Hutch will be here!!! I can't believe how quickly it is going by. Again, this is our busiest season as a family so I am sure that is making the time pass even faster. I know there is a possibility that he will be late but I'm still keeping my eye on the "due" date. I am going to try and hold off and NOT be induced this time unless it becomes necessary. I guess saying it here on the blog will pressure me into sticking with that decision.

I was induced with Kate, Claire, Henry, and Sims at 39 weeks. I've only gone into labor 1 time. It was with Jack at 38.3 weeks. I went to the hospital when I was in VERY early labor (not in any pain) and was immediately given pitocin and had my water broken. So, just for kicks, I'd like to actually go into labor and not go to the hospital until I'm in serious pain. :) We'll see how that goes though. I'm a little nervous that I won't actually know when to go in. You'd think I be a pro on baby #6 but I'm actually a newbie. Rick has watched several Youtube videos on how to solve medical problems we've faced at our house (nursemaids elbow, removing stiches, etc) and I am really hoping he won't be looking up any baby delivery videos because I waited too long to go to the hospital. :) I have a feeling it will be the other way around though and that I'll go in too early. We will see!!

I will try to update every week from now until the birth just for my records.

Henry's Birthday!

Our oldest son is 5 today!!! Be still my heart...

Claire - 6 years and 7 months old

In the next 5 weeks we will celebrate Henry's 5th Birthday, Sims turning 18 months, Jack's 3rd Birthday, Kate's 8th Birthday, and unless he is super content, the birth of our newest son. So for no reason at all, I wanted to celebrate our baby girl with this picture. 

My Soccer Stud...

As first reported, Henry loved soccer! He is already excited about playing again in the Spring! He is also asking to play basketball. I think we'll wait until he's not 4 to try that one out. :) And yes, believe it or not, at our Y you can play basketball at age 3. We're still not quite sure how that is possible.

Walking, 30 weeks, and School!

Well, it took 16 months, but he's got it! Sims is walking!! He is certainly proud of himself as are his brothers and sisters. Today, Henry asked him if he wanted to race. :) He may not have been walking, but he has been observing. I caught him walking into the kitchen, grabbing a plastic cup, and then getting water out of the refrigerator door!!!! Crazy! It has been an exciting time in our house for sure!

30 weeks!!!
30 weeks down, 10 to go! That sounds so soon! I am still feeling good and still stand by my statement that this has been the easiest pregnancy yet. I know that most likely, I have about 4 weeks left until "lock down" mode but who knows?? Hutch is very active which I love. The kids are all so excited about his arrival. The girls are in discussions about which child will get to hold him first. They both did decide that I can hold him first, first. :) Henry said he wanted to teach him to play beach volleyball and soccer so we are set in those areas. Jack is very concerned that we get him a blanket to sleep with and Sims is just Sims.
I've been thinking a lot about how loved our newest one is. In God's Providence, He has placed Hutch as our 6th child. There are not many people who can say that they have 7 people in there household who are so eagerly anticipating their birth. He is already greatly loved and wanted and I know that will continue to grow in the coming weeks and then after he is born.

School
We are still going strong on school! I'm looking forward to our extending break beginning in December but I am still very happy with the curriculum choices made for this year. I'll start looking at next years material in February but I don't foresee many changes at all.

Well, I guess that's about all for now. Will give another baby update around 35 weeks, if not before. Things are about to kick into high gear around here!

Disney World

• Disney World was awesome! Hey, it's Disney World!
• Disney World was exhausting! Everyday we were taking into the park, a 7 year old, a 6 year old, a 4 year old, a 2 year old, a 1 year old, 1 double stroller, 1 single stroller, 1 backpack, 10 water bottles, 2 blankies and a camera (and I was 6 months pregnant). In fact, I'm a little exhausted just writing all of that out. :)
• To prevent from exasperating our children with exhaustion, we woke up every morning and went straight to the park (normally there with 30 mins of the park opening), played hard all day, and then left the park before dinner. We came back to our hotel to eat (went to downtown Disney one night) and then everyone went to bed. No fireworks or late nights for our group. This really works well for our family because of the ages of our children. 
• My parents and sister Sarah went with us! Rick's parents and his sister's family where also there! Our trips overlapped some of the days and while we did see them every day we could, we were a little off of their schedule because they have older kids. Our kids LOVED seeing their cousins though when we could. 
• Sims had the stomach bug during the middle of the week. He threw up 4 times between 12am and 6am one night. In fact, Rick went and did laundry at the hotel laundromat at 2am because Sims was out of sheets for his pack and play and had no other pajamas to wear. Sims also threw up one more time all over my sister in the bus on the way to the Magic Kingdom. Needless to say, I spent the rest of the day in the hotel with him and he slept for 6 hours and was completely fine after that. Don't feel sorry for me though, remember, I was 6 months pregnant and forced to do nothing in a small hotel room for 6 hours. Thankfully, no one else ever got sick! 
• I hardly took any pictures. But here are some of them. 

This is how Rick looked 75% of the time at Disney World - holding Sims and his blanket. The fleece blanket helped keep him warm in the 90 degree weather. :)

Favorite Rides:
Kate - Rockin' Roller Coaster (rode it 3 times in a row), Space Mountain
Claire - Tower of Terror, Space Mountain
Henry - Star Tours, People Mover, Pirates of the Caribbean, Peter Pan
Jack - Pirates of the Caribbean, It's a Small World, Dumbo
Sims - It's a Small World

27 weeks

I'm 27 weeks today. Don't know if that's really the beginning of the 3rd trimester or if that's next week but either way, we're getting close! I am very grateful that this has been the easiest of all 6 pregnancies. My pregnancy with Simon was the hardest so I was wondering how this one would be. I even PASSED my sugar test! :) The only other child I've done that with was Claire. I know I still have 13 weeks left, but so far, best pregnancy yet. Easy or hard, I tend to be completely over the entire thing around 34 weeks and by 37 weeks, I'm normally in hibernation mode. Knowing this, we started school end of July so we will have completed half of the required school days by the 1st of December. This way, we can take off the months of December and January and still be finished up with our year in May!
We have a busy few months ahead so I know this pregnancy will continue to fly by. Rick is going out of town for training later in October and then in November he has to go back out of town for more training and I'M GOING WITH HIM!!! He's worked for his company for 11 years and has only been out of town 1 other time. These 2 conferences just happen to fall close together this year. We have not been out of town together in over 6 years so I am super excited. This is also the last time I've been without children. I have grand plans to go do some things while Rick is in his meetings but I may just hang out at the hotel! :)
After those trips we have Thanksgiving, Henry's birthday (December 3rd), Jack's birthday (December 9th), Kate's Birthday (December 22nd), Christmas, and then mere days until Hutch's birth.
Hutch does have a name (and yes, it is on the "Lost" character list :)) but I don't know if we'll share it before he's born or not. We're still trying to decide on that one. Although, I've called him Hutch for so long, I sometimes say that name when I'm thinking about him. We're all very excited about the newest little guy! :)

While we're on the topic of Henry....

Rick took Kate, Claire, and Henry to the pool at our hotel in Disney World one night. While there, Henry started playing with some new Spanish speaking friends. After a few minutes of observing them playing together, Rick overheard this:

Henry: So, have y'all learned to speak English yet???

Thankfully I do not think they had. 

And so I don't forget:

Disney World employee to Henry: What is your favorite ride at the Magic Kingdom?

Henry: The People Mover

Pretty sure that is the first time those words have been uttered in response to that question.

Henry and Jack on his favorite ride in the Magic Kingdom. 

WANTED: Wife who wants to live in Orlando

Henry: Mommy, when I get to be a grown up, I'm going to go to the money store and get enough money to buy a house right next to Disney World. Will you come live with me and be my wife???

Me: I can't buddy. I'm already married and I'm your mother.

Henry: Oh Man!!! Claire, will you marry me then??

Claire: Believe me Henry, I would if I could but they won't let me.

So, if any of you have a nice young daughter who loves Disney World, have we got the husband for you. :)

Henry LOVES Soccer!!!

Well, we are back from Disney World but first things first. Henry is playing soccer for the first time and last night was his first game! We are playing at the Y and practices/games are on the same night so it is only 1 day a week which we love. He missed the last 2 weeks because of rain and our big trip so he was just thrilled to be playing tonight. He scored FOUR goals so it was a successful night. :) Everyone had fun and thanks to Boo and Papaw for coming out to cheer on the Tigers!

Adoring Fans: Sims-15 months, Kate-7

Sims and Claire - 6

Ready to get started

Warming Up

Practice Shot

One of his goals :)

He loved it!

If MacGyver had a daughter....

who liked to play with American Girl dolls, her name would have been Kate. I'll find her walking down the hallway with aluminum foil, a straw, a piece of tape, and a cardboard box, and 5 mins later she will come out of her room saying, "I made a microwave for my American Girl dolls." She has probably made at least 25 different things so far including a microwave, a checkers set, a mermaid costume, and even a lava lamp. :)

Here is a picture of her bathroom.You can see a shower, a toilet, and a cabinet. Love that girl!

I have been meaning to post about Henry's entry into soccer but it was rained out this week and we'll miss next week, but it's coming!!!

Simon is 15 months old!

Happiest of 15 months to our baby boy (well, on Sept 6th)! I remember saying when he was born that everyone should have a 5th child because he was so easy. That still holds true today! I sure do love this little guy. He is NOT walking!!! He wins the prize for the latest walker for sure! Claire and Jack both walked at 12 months and Kate and Henry at 13 months. This little guy will stand up in the middle of a room not holding on to anything but will not walk. He has taken about 3 steps at a time so I'm sure it won't be long now. I was hoping he would be walking by the time we went to Disney World (just so I could let him out of the stroller to run around every once in a while) but it's not going to happen. Maybe he'll start when we are down there! :)

He actually can say a lot of words and phrases. They are really too many to count. My favorite is "here you go." He crawls up to me all the time and hands me something and says they. He also loves to say, "blankie, where are you???" He's a cutie for sure.
We love you Simon Oliver and are certainly thankful and grateful for you. You are a joy and a blessing.

Updates

I haven't updated in 2 weeks now! I have been meaning to do so but honestly, my finger is still hurting so I haven't been typing that much. (There is no feeling in the top 2/3rds, and I am still having nerve pain. Please do not cut your finger with a blender that is turned on.)  I hope to have posts soon about Henry starting soccer, Sims turning 15 months, and then in a few weeks, our trip to Disney World! We are heading back soon! We literally started saving for this trip the month we returned from our last trip 2 years ago. I think I was a little crazy about the entire thing because whenever a child would find a penny on the road, they would run to me screaming, "Mommy-here is money for our Disney World fund!!!" And yes, we booked our trip in March, before we found out about baby Hutch. It will be interesting to see what Disney World is like pregnant but hey, I'll have 5 other children to distract me. :) We are all so THRILLED about going but I honestly think I am the one that is the most excited!
Be back soon!

My Finger

Rick has this rule that I'm not allowed to use a sharp knife while pregnant. I cut my finger every single pregnancy. Well, now we have a new rule, no using the hand blender. I was making dinner and using is to cut up some chicken. I needed to clean it out so I could use it again and stuck my finger in it and must have hit the "on" switch with my right hand. Intense pain, followed by blood splattering, led to me screaming and the girls crying. I was certain I had cut my finger off, or at least straight to the bone. I had no idea what to do, so I grabbed a dish towel, put pressure on it, and called Rick. Thankfully he was able to come right home and take me to the doctor. I called my parents and they rushed over to keep the kids.
3 stitches later and all is well (except there is still intense pain, which I've heard can last awhile). Thankful I still have my finger and that it was easily fixed. Boy, it hurts though!!!!!!

Art Museum

If you have never taken your children to the children's room at the art museum, PLEASE go! It just opened in May and I found out about it through a few different friends. It's fabulous! We went yesterday with my mom. The Art Museum is easy to find, has free parking, and free admission! 

There are 2 rooms in the children's area (which is on the 2nd floor). The first room is designed for 0-5 year olds and the 2nd is for 6-12 year olds. The 2 rooms are connected and we played in both rooms. 

Here is a picture of the 0-5 year old room. That is a chalkboard table on which kids can draw. 

One note, as soon as we walked in, the attendant told us that Sims was required to have socks or shoes on because it was a state law! He is still a crawler and therefore never wears shoes. Thankfully, Jack had socks and shoes on so I took his socks off and put them on Sims. Shockingly, he kept them on the entire time.

Here is a picture of the Sensory Cubes in the 0-5 year old room. They also had magnets, masks, books, blocks, and many other great things. 

In the older room, Kate and Jack's favorite activity was this area. It was a very long table with pieces of poster board and different colored masking tape. The kids were able to make all kinds of different creations. 

I was barely able to get a picture of Henry. He was running all over the place and having a great time.

Here is Claire making pottery art. You draw on these pots with crayons and then erase them with baby wipes. 

Sims loved the magnet board!

Here is Jack, not wanting to smile because he was busy with his masterpiece. This was a screen in which you use water and a paint brush. At first the "paint" seems invisible, and then slowly the markings appear. 

There were 2 huge screens on the wall. You could either touch the screen to pick your color, or the colors were on the floor and you could tap them with your feet and then write all over the board. Henry and Claire in particular loved this!

There is also an exhibit in which you can put yourself into painting and then email it to yourself. This was Henry's favorite thing. He probably did this 10 times. :) Here is what one of the pictures looked like:

We all went outside afterwards for a snack!

It was a really fun and we will definitely be back!

20 week and 4 week Updates

I'm at the 20 week mark today! Baby boy is very active and moves around all of the time. I actually first felt him move at 14 weeks so he's making sure his presence is known. We've known for 2 weeks now that he is indeed a boy and are very excited about having all of these precious children and about having 4 boys in a row! I realized we will have 4 teenage boys in our house at one time!
We're almost positive we've picked his name but we are sitting on it for awhile just to be sure. We actually picked it out the night of our ultrasound. Kate was the only other child we've decided on that quickly.

In other news, we just passed the 4 week mark in school (this is our 5th week). I can't believe we've already completed 4 weeks! I love having all of those days under our belt in August. That will give us plenty of days available to take off later in the year for baby boy or just because we need a break.

I am very thankful that so far, we are all loving all of our curriculum choices. I couldn't say that a month into schooling last year. I'm going to try and update every month how things are going and our top picks for that month. Our top picks so far are:

1. Singapore math-I'm using the Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grade level and all 3 children LOVE it! It is very challenging  but they are all begging to do more than 1 lesson a day! Can't beat that!

2. Apologia Astronomy(with Jr. Notebooks)-I think the jr notebooks make this course. It's great and we are enjoying it. The girls do the notebooks but Henry and even Jack sit in on the lessons and Henry participates in narration. The boys love just looking at the pictures in the book even when it's not "science time."

3. Veritas Press Bible-We are doing Genesis-Joshua this year and will learn 32 events chronologically. I wasn't quite sure how this would work out because it is designed for 2nd-6th grade but it's working beautifully. The kids all love the song that you learn to help remember the 32 events. We spend 1 week on each event which is great for the grammar stage. The kids really soak up the information and we are doing 1 project each week. More are listed but 1 is working out perfectly for us. Kate is able to do the review questions on her own and really likes that.

We'll see how things are going in another month!!

It's a....

Baby looks great and we are all very excited that he will be joining our family soon. Claire said, "Rats!!!" when she found out but is fine now. She saw his picture and said, "Awww, he's so cute!"

Kate said, "I don't know how WE are going to be able to handle this. Boys are SOO messy!!"

I can't believe we are going to have FOUR boys!!!!

Rick and I are going out to dinner tonight to celebrate and hopefully discuss his name. :)

Sims wanted to vote

In my last post, I said that I polled all of the speaking members of our family and the vote was 5-1 girl. Well, Sims decided he wanted to get his vote in before we find out in the morning.

I'm about to fire myself...

We are only in our 2nd week of homeschooling and I think I might need to fire myself....

Strike 1:

Henry-Is that the American flag?
Me-Yes it it
Henry-Then why does it have red and blue on it?


Strike 2:


We are learning a poem that teaches the events of the bible in order. 
One line says, "Did it only in 6 days, and then there came the fall."


Henry: So God created the Earth and then it was the fall, like Christmas??
Me: No, the fall is when Adam and Eve sinned against God, when sin entered the world. 
Henry: So they did that in the fall??


Good thing I started school in July. :)

One Week from Today!

One week from today, August 7th, we find out if we are having a boy or a girl! My appointment is the first one of the day because I can't imagine having to wait all day to find out! :) I will be exactly 18 weeks.
I polled the speaking members of our family and 5 think it's a girl and only 1 thinks boy. Henry is the only one who thinks we are having a boy. He keeps insisting that our family NEEDS 5 boys (Rick is included in that.)
Sweet Claire keeps saying that we NEED a girl because she has never seen a baby girl. This is the same thing she said when I was expecting Sims. A few days ago, she said, "I don't know what I'm going to do if I don't get a sister"!!!!
Kate says she really, really wants a baby sister but if not it will be OK because Sims is cute.
All of the "old wive's tales" and all of my symptoms (except for 1) say BOY but I'm still going with GIRL!

Ready or Not.....

We started school today!!!! Here's our school crew: Kate - 2nd grade, Claire - 1st grade, and Henry - K4

We're all pretty excited about getting started so I'll enjoy it while it lasts. :)

What We Do

This post is for a friend who asked about our activities during the day. I'll give it a shot but I will say that it changes frequently. There are people much better organized with their time than I am with our time. This is an area I really struggle with. Everyday I think at least one of these questions: Am I doing enough, am I doing too much, am I lazy, am I spending enough time with the children, am I spending too much time with them, do the children have too much free time or not enough, am i teaching them what they need to know, are they playing outside enough, are we home too much, are we not home enough, should I cook healthier meals, should I clean the house more, am I being patient, am I living and speaking the gospel to my children, etc. Ok, you get the picture. Eventually, it boils over and every few months I have a talk with Rick about it all.
I desire to be a good steward of what the Lord has given us and I desire to work heartily for the Lord and not for man. (Col 3:23) However, I fail and just hope that when I do, the kids see the grace of God to forgive and sustain.

Here's our basic shell. The kids all go to bed at 7:00. (Kate through Sims) Kate (7) is allowed to read in our bed for an hour if she wants to do so which she normally does. Claire will be allowed to do so at some point this year. She still needs the sleep right now. They all wake up between 6:30 and 7:00am. Morning nap time for Sims (13 months) is from 8-9:30. He will probably drop that nap in the next few months. Afternoon nap time for Jack(2.5) and Sims (13 months) is between 12:30 and 1 depending on what we have to do that afternoon. They normally sleep between 2 and 2.5 hours. Kate, Claire and Henry have to rest quietly for 1.5 hours at the same time. This gives me time to get stuff done or nap if I'm tired while pregnant or have a newborn.

We eat lunch between 11 and 11:30 and dinner around 5:30. Yes we are early birds when it comes to eating. Rick and I will be all ready when "retirement" comes around. :)

The girls are in ballet during the year on Tuesday afternoons (late) and Henry will have soccer this year on Tuesdays at 6. The girls will also take piano from my mother at some point during the week. We do not have any other scheduled activities. During the summer, we just play! :) We go places (zoo, etc), go to my parent's house, go swimming (with Rick-can't take everyone by myself yet), go to the gym, play outside, play inside, read. They do watch TV. We only have 1 TV, 1 Ipod, and 1 computer (for the kids and me) so we learn to share those things. I don't want everyone going off by themselves to watch TV or play on the computer so it all stays in the den. We don't watch a lot of TV only because there is really nothing good on to watch. It's basically Playhouse Disney, Nick Jr or something on Netflix.

I like when school is in session because it does give more structure to our day. This is why I lean more towards year-round schooling with frequent breaks. The majority of school works gets done in the morning before rest time because the kids are still young. I know this will spill over into the afternoon once they are older. So during the school year it's, school in morning, rest time, play time (ballet, play with friends etc) dinner, play with Rick, family worship and then bed.

That's basically it. Normal, probably boring, but good.

Names that could have been...

Because I'm not the greatest at keeping up baby books, I like to try and record things on the blog that I want my kids to know/remember. When I was younger, I always wanted to know what my parent's almost names me. It was Amanda, by the way, but my dad had a bad association with the name so Peggy it was. I am named for my mother's mother.
Anyway, I thought I'd list out names that were on my list for each of the children so they can look back on it one day.

Kate - We didn't discuss names until we knew she was a girl. I remember telling Rick I liked Ellen and Kate. He immediately said, "Kate." That was it! Easy! Never thought about boy names.

Claire - My first choice was Elizabeth, nicknamed "Lizzie." However, Lizzie McGuire was a popular kids TV show at the time and Rick thought people would think we named her after the show. :) We kept Elizabeth as her middle name. We went back and forth between Audrey and Claire. Rick changed the  screen saver on our computer to say "Claire Elizabeth" one day and that settled it! Never thought about boy names.

Henry - We debated on whether or not Henry would be a junior. I left that decision up to Rick. Once he decided he did not want a junior, the only name on my list was Henry. Rick was taking a church history class at the time and a lot of men he read about were named Henry. Thanks to all of that reading, Henry it was. We carried down Rick's middle name and his father's middle name, Scott, and gave that to Henry.
Girl names on my list were Alice and Lillian.

Jack - Because his gender was unknown until birth we only loosely discussed names. He actually wasn't named until about 24 hours after he was born. For girls, we tossed around Alice, Lillian, and Sophie.
Once I knew he was a boy, I wanted his name to be John which means, "God is gracious." We had Jack after a miscarriage and the meaning of his name was important to me. He was almost named John Elias but we went with John Richard (Rick's name). Other boy names we discussed were Paul and Miles.

Simon - Simon was named Paul for about 3 weeks before we changed our minds. Then, we went back and forth and back and forth and back and forth between Simon, Oliver, and Levi. We finally picked Simon Oliver and it was perfect. Again, girl names on my list were Alice and Lillian.

Baby #6 - We will know in 2 weeks whether it's a boy or a girl and then the name will be picked! I can't wait!!

Gender Prediction

There is an old wives' tale that the baby's heart rate can predict gender. Statistically, it has been proven to be correct 50% of the time. How do you like those odds??? However, in our case, the 14th week heart rate has correctly predicted every single one of our children's gender. Both girls' rates at 14 weeks were in the 170s and all the boys' were in the 150s.
It has only been correct during the 14th week though. After the 14th week, the rates have all fluctuated. So needless to say, I was looking forward to the 14th week appointment. Guess what, we were out of town during the 14th week. I did have my appointment today at 15 weeks and the rate was 153!
I don't know what to make of that but I guess there is always a 50% chance it's right. :) Thankfully I don't have to wait long to find out. We'll know in 2 weeks and 6 days.

School Plans 2012-2013

I have several things "against" me in homeschooling. First of all, I like to be alone. Second of all, I like things quiet. And finally, I'm not a crafty/projecty type of person. The Lord has given us a house full of people to teach, all of whom like to talk a lot, and most of whom like projects. :)
I look popular curricula start twitching....materials like: 2 apple seeds, plaster, 4 balloon, 2 cups of cornmeal, and a button are needed for 1 day. Sorry sweet kids, I just can't do it. :)


I suppose our method of homeschooling is a mix of Classical with a little bit of Charlotte Mason thrown in. I've made some changes from what we used last year because I'm still trying to figure everything out, which will never happen. 


I had plans to use Mystery of History but we are going to hold off on beginning the classical 4 year history rotation until Kate is in 5th grade (unless I change my mind on that again next year.) Another obvious break from the Classical method is that we have decided not to teach Latin. We will do a Latin root word study in high school if we make it that far. :) We are teaching Greek instead. That's what you get when your dad is a pastor and your mom always had secret dreams of being a bible translator. 


Also, I buy everything I can used or reuse anything I can from year to year. 


Henry K4
Phonics -   The Reading Lesson and Explode the Code
Math - Singapore Essentials A (possibly B too)
He will also participate in Bible and Science


Claire - 1st grade
Bible - Veritas Press Genesis through Joshua
Phonics - The Reading Lesson and Explode the Code
Math - Singapore 1a/1b and Ray's arithmetic
Grammar - First Language Lessons 1
Writing - Writing with Ease 1
Reading - Heart of Dakota Emerging Reader Set
Spelling - Spelling Plus with Dictation Book
History - D'Aulaire biographies - she will narrate/draw
Science - Apologia Astronomy with Jr notebook
Greek  - Hey Andrew - Level 1
Cursive - Pentime 2

Kate - 2nd grade
Bible - Veritas Press Genesis through Joshua. Will also read through the New Testament
Math - Singapore 2a/2b and Ray's arithmetic
Grammar - First Language Lessons 2
Writing - Writing with Ease 2
Reading  - she will have both assigned and free reading time each day - will use some comprehension guides from Veritas Press and Memoria Press
Spelling - Spelling Plus with Dictation
History - Abeka 2 - this is neither Classical nor Charlotte Mason but I'm using it anyway. :) She will have to write about what she reads. It's going to work for us this year.
Science - Apologia Astronomy with Jr notebook
Greek - Hey Andrew 2 and Elementary Greek
Cursive - Pentime 3

Between February and June of her 1st grade year, Kate read the first 3 Harry Potter books (we won't let her read the other ones yet) and the first 6 books in the Chronicles of Narnia series. It's difficult to find books for her to read because although she is able to read almost anything, not everything is appropriate or comprehensible. I have a list of books for assigned reading for her this year. These she will read aloud to me and we will discuss or work through comprehension guides/do projects. We will read literature, missionary biographies, and books from history and science. She will also have free reading time each day from a list I've pulled. If anyone has any "don't miss" books, please let me know.
I'm most excited about reading The Milly-Molly-Mandy Storybook. It was written in 1925 and is such a cute book. I've been pre-reading. :)

So that's it! We're starting next week!

Charlie's Wedding!

I am the oldest of 4 siblings. I have a sister Sarah, brother Charlie, and our youngest sister Emma (she just turned 21 in March.) My brother was married on Saturday and here are some pictures from the big day. I do not have any with Charlie and Lindsay!! I did grab this picture from their facebook page. I did not take it but I wanted to show them since this post is about their big day! Their photographer was Kevin Roberts. 

They were married at Rancho de las Aguilas Estates in Birmingham. It was a beautiful venue even if it was 106 degrees and the wedding was outside. We were HOT!!!

Here is a picture my sister Emma took. I LOVE, LOVE it!!! How sweet are the little ring bearer and flower girl. :) This was after the wedding. They were beat!!

Here is a picture of the my sisters and me. I love having 2 sisters. :) Quite frankly, I was just glad my dressed zipped up. I could hardly breathe. Obviously the dress was ordered before we found out about the new baby and I was almost 13 weeks here. 

Another one of us before the ceremony with Henry.

Finally, one of my honey and me. :)

Kate was there too. Can't believe I don't have a picture with her. I'll look again. She and Claire were the flower girls and Henry was the ring bearer. Rick's parents kept Jack and Sims for us which was a HUGE help!

I'll be posting about our Hilton Head trip, give a baby gender prediction, and list our school plans this week! We are starting school back next week. Between Christmas, 3 December birthdays, and a new baby, I have a feeling we'll be taking some extending time off of school end of the year/beginning of next year so I want to get a jump start on things!

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6

1: Kate (7.5) - Kate is such a helpful little girl. Not only will she always help when asked, she anticipates the needs of others and will help before asked and when no one is watching.

2: Claire (6) - Claire is (almost) always content. She is happy with whatever is happening. She is also extremely generous. She will give you anything that is "hers" (except for 'Gigi', her stuffed giraffe).

3: Henry (4.5) - Henry is very kind. For example, we were almost out of gum today (which all the kids LOVE) and Henry said he only wanted a piece if there was enough for "mommy to have one first." He is also very tough. When he gets hurts will cry for a minute and then shake it off and get back to playing. 

4: Jack (2.5) - Jack is full of life. He does everything at 100% and he is joyful, happy, and fearless. We do pray that He will always keep his zeal.

 5: Sims (1) - Sims is still just a baby so his full personality is yet to be seen. I will tell you this though, he is content and happy if his tummy if full and his mama is near.

AND INTRODUCING.....

6. The newest Hutchison - This child does not have a picture yet but is being formed and knitted together at this very moment by his/her Creator. I have not seen and do not know this little person but what I do know is more than enough. The baby is made in the image of God and is wonderfully made. Before the foundation of the world, the Lord in His providence ordained every day and every thing about this child. This child is loved and wanted and has already brought much awe and wonder and joy into our lives. And while we do not yet know this child, he/she is already intimately known by his/her Creator. 

Baby is due:

January 8, 2013

Which makes me currently:

11 weeks pregnant

For you formed my inward parts;you knitted me together in my mother's womb.I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.Wonderful are your works;my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you,when I was being made in secret,intricately woven in the depths of the earth.Your eyes saw my unformed substance;in your book were written, every one of them,the days that were formed for me,when as yet there was none of them.

Psalm 139:13-16