Compartments

Ancient History

Follow Me?

Instagram

Six

60 fingers can hold a lot of crayons. 60 fingers means a lot of cake batter can be licked. 60 fingers and 6 little noses–you can imagine the rest.

60 little pink toes to wiggle as this little piggy goes to the market for the 10,000th time (what is that piggy shopping for?). 60 little toes to knead in the backyard mud puddle. 60 little toes can make lots of little holes in hundreds of once-white cotton socks.

12 little arms to throw around my neck, 12 little arms to throw around each other’s necks, 12 little arms that can cross in defiance, 12 little arms that can swing a baseball bat, 12 little arms with twelve little funny bones that need to be kissed when bonked.

12 strong legs to propel circles around the backyard attempting to outrun the dog. 12 scraped knees mean that BandAids must be purchased at Costco in bulk. 12 legs that somehow learn to walk, run, jump, skip, and kick.

12 eyes to look into my two eyes that have seen a lot. 12 eyes to blink away tears, errant eyelashes, and dirt that is thrown by a brother. 12 eyes to open wide on July 4th when the fireworks brilliant frenzy booms. 12 eyes to read Goodnight Moon and The Boxcar Children and Charlotte’s Web.

6 mouths to feed. 6 mouths with Oreo goatees. 6 first-teeth lost ($60 from the tooth fairy). 6 “ma-mas”. 6 “da-das”. 6 little puckers pressed onto cheeks. 6 Oral B cartoon character toothbrushes to drop in the toilet.

6 hearts entrusted to us. 6 hearts to protect from breaking. 6 hearts, if they are broken, to help mend. 6 hearts to teach about love, life, friendship, values, and God. 6 hearts that beat in their own unique rhythms.

Right now, five of those little hearts are beating outside my body, growing and amazing me more each day.

One little heart is tucked deep inside of me, beating furiously, ever closer to quickening, but already sown into the fabric of my heart as our sixth child, a blessing beyond belief. We will welcome him or her into our arms this August, God willing.

11 comments to Six

  • Hooray, Christmas dinners are going to be ENORMOUS!!! I can’t wait to find out if the baby is another boy or girl. I’m super happy for both of you guys, and the kids too of course.

  • Momofmopsy

    We have more than enough room in our hearts for another baby and will pray for God to supply all that you need to raise your 6 beautiful children. Thank goodness for Cosco!

  • Nini

    I am so excited for you both. You are amazing parents and will be even more amazing x 6!

  • Christina

    I followed your link from the Aug 05 message board!! We are expecting # 4 and you would think by peoples reactions we are populating the whole world ourselves! I want to say congratulations and I absolutely loved to read what you wrote!! May God Bless you and Your family!!

  • Jennifer

    How lucky your family is to be blessed with 10 more tiny fingers and 10 more tiny toes!! Just the same, your new baby is blessed to be surrounded by such a wonderful family. ((hugs)) Congratulations!!

  • Another Gretchen with 6 children!

    Hooray! So exciting, congratulations! Should we hope for pink? I can’t say my wishful thinking would do you much good anyway, it didn’t help me at all, LOL.

  • Anna

    Heard the news last night – love to see the family grow. 5 new little ones by the end of summer! I always felt blessed that I am from a big family. Keep up the good work. Happy for you!

  • It takes very patient, loving, giving, and selfless people to welcome and love 6 little ones to this world. You both are very gifted and wonderful parents whom seem to do it all with such finesse. My thoughts and prayers are with you all every day. Congratulations!

  • bro-de-mopsy

    I have nothing profound to say. I’m just glad that Liz and I get first crack at some boy names in June before you take two more 😉

  • hamster

    And now you’ll have that ever important substitute for pick up basketball games. Can’t wait to meet s/he.

  • Kristin

    This entry gave me the goose-bumps… in such a good way! What a wonderful outlook 🙂 Congrats on #6!!

Leave a Reply to hamster Cancel reply

You can use these HTML tags

<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>