A good friend

I got the terrible news that a good friend committed suicide. I am totally not a death or dead people person. He is probably the first real friend I have had pass away (yes, I have only experienced death of all of my family). I thought we were good friends. He always joked about all of the kids and I always joked about his girlfriends. I am so sad because he never felt all of the love of everyone that care so much for him. I am sad because he must have felt alone in the world. I feel terrible for his parents and even for his dog and snake (mostly the dog because it is sweet). I feel bad for the rest of his friends who are hurting. I cry reading his facebook page and seeing his last posts. I never want anyone to feel like they don't have anyone else in the world to turn to. I talked to him a couple of weeks ago-typical back and forth and he seemed so happy. My mind keeps thinking about Tuesday. I saw him make a post on facebook about loving his friends and glad they were part of the good times. I remember reading it and thinking it was weird-but sometimes he posted things to be funny. Now, looking back, I wish I had posted something or called or I don't know (taking 6 little folks to visit someone with no kids, a big dog, and a giant snake seemed out of the question). I have thought about it all day today. How can we keep this from happening? If we had only known. So today, I made sure the kids know how much I love them because my friend that passed away was someone's baby once.

Apple Pie Oatmeal

On Monday, I made the kids apple pie oatmeal. They love apple pie and there is no way they would ever get to eat it for breakfast. I try to make their breakfasts as filling as possible because they are big eaters. The recipe is more of a method because I realize that not everyone is cooking for an army of "STARRRRRRRRRRVING TO DEATHHHHHHHH" kids. I would love to try this with steel cut oats but I haven't found them on a good enough sale yet. This ended up making a giant stoneware of oatmeal plus a pyrex dish. Next time, I will go ahead and use 2 stonewares.

6 and a half cups of oatmeal
5 cups of vanilla almond milk
5 and a half cups of vanilla soy milk ( I am sure you can sub regular milk)
6 apples sliced, cored, peeled and chopped
cinnamon to taste (I just sprinkled it over the top)
apple pie spice to taste (again, just sprinkled it over the top)
3 cups of applesauce (I used unsweetened applesauce that I canned this summer)
optional-a few spoonfuls of brown sugar or honey. I didn't use any but I think it would have given it extra sweetness.

I baked it at 350 for about 30 minutes but stirred it everything I thought about it. (I was giving the kids a bath so my 30 minute timeline might be skewed). Don't let it get too done or it won't reheat well.

When I go to serve it, I break up a few graham crackers on the top for the "crust" part. The kids love it and it fed them for 3 breakfasts =) If it's too thick when you reheat it, just add more milk.

Avery has arrived!

After what felt like the longest pregnancy EVER, a fairly long labor (especially for a 5th baby!), and a super speedy delivery-Avery Ruth-Kathryn Keeton arrived on September 30 at 4:51pm. She weighed 7lbs and was 19 and a half inches long-only furthering my belief that ultrasounds are WAY off when it comes to our children. She has a head full of black hair, which is the only thing the kids ever take after me. I will enjoy it while it lasts-until it turns blonde anyways. The kids were overjoyed to meet their new baby sister. The girls kept fighting saying "my baby' "no my baby"-back and forth, over and over. The older boys, of course, are in love. Easton and Weston are so good with babies! Sutton wasn't sure what to think. He is used to being a little prince. He loved on her a bit and has been enjoying laying beside of her on the boppy. He reminds me a lot of Emery when Sutton was born. She would sit on the boppy while I nursed him.

Monday, we took Weston for his echo. His heart looks good, his lungs look bad. He goes back in 4 weeks for another echo and we will go from there. I am trying not to get overly worried about it. He has made it this far and is doing great-his lungs just didn't get the memo.

Yesterday was my first day alone with them. The morning went well. We took Avery to the doctor and my mother in law sat in the car with the older 5 while I took Avery to get her bilirubin checked. We came home and everyone napped-it was nice. I love a good afternoon nap. Today has been a bit rougher. I lost my keys so we spent the morning searching for them. After I cried and Adam was getting ready to leave work, Sutton brought me my keys. I have no idea where they were but I was glad to find them. Avery went back to the dr today to get her bilirubin checked again. All of the kids have had jaundice and had to go under the lights. I am hopeful that Avery can do without the biliblanket.

And so now, I am trying to adjust to 6. It's not been bad so far-just tiring-or maybe that is because all Keeton newborns believe they need to nurse every hour and a half to 2 hours? I can't wait to get off the lifting restrictions and get back to a new, normal life.