First and Last and Question and Answers

 Our First Sunday With Six Children

  One Of Our Last Sundays With Six Children

  One Of Our First Sundays With Seven Children

Questions that I have been asked:

Is having 7 kids about as hard as having 3 kids?

Having 7 kids is like having 7 kids.  Unfortunately, the more kids that you have you don't receive more hours in the day.  With each child I learn to be more productive and waste less time.  When we contemplated having our 7th child my prayers felt something like this, "But I don't have anything else that I can cut out!  Where can I find the time to care for one more person?"  It is amazing what Heavenly Father can do with our time when we turn it over to him.  Somehow he can make more out of our lives than we can.

Is it easier to have a new baby now that your kids are older?

No!  It is harder.   At one point we had 4 kids and the oldest was 4.  Yes it was busy, but the demands and busyness were all in our own home.  We didn't have outside commitments like you do with older kids.  With little kids we didn't have places we had to be, if I didn't sign them up for a session of community education gymnastics it really didn't matter.  At night everyone was in bed before 8:00 pm.  If I had a rough night with a new baby we didn't have to be anywhere early in the morning.

With older kids, when you have a new baby life doesn't slow down.  Whether I am up all night or not, when morning comes I need to feed and dress 7 kids, make sure lunches, snacks, and water bottles are ready, and  get all the kids to the car by 8:00 am.  During the day I am still caring for a baby and running to preschool and grocery shopping.  When afternoon hits I have loads of paperwork to do, hours of homework to help with, dinner and activities.  Soccer games, scouts, dance, gymnastics, activity days, and school activities are a few of the events we have.

With older kids the house isn't quiet and peaceful at 8:00 pm, later bedtimes means it is harder for me to get to bed even though my body is so tired!

As I look at pictures and compare last time we had a new baby to this time I would say that the biggest difference is that our house has a lot more opinions than it used to!  Everyone has their own opinions and ideas :)

There are some nice things about having older kids.  They are able to help out.  They love to hold her.  Today when I came downstairs breakfast was already made and the table was set!    It was a great surprise.    (It really pays off when you teach your kids to cook!)  

Questions and Answers: Nissan NV Passenger Van, Best Vehicle for a Large Family

Question:  What kind of car do you drive?

Answer:  Nissan NV Passenger Van.  They are new on the market, you can learn more here.

When it comes to purchasing a vehicle for a family of 9 there are not a lot of options!  We did our homework and felt that we bought the best vehicle for our family.

We used to drive this mini van.  It wasn't fancy, but it was functional.  I loved the sliding doors and that it would comfortably seat 8 people with up to 6 car seats!

I have been asked so many times why we didn't buy a suburban or a large SUV.  They are bigger than a mini van but they only seat 8 people. (The same amount as our mini van)  There is an option to have a company called Little Passenger Seats add an extra seat to the back of an SUV.  We didn't feel that this was a good option for our family.  Adding a seat to the cargo area would be difficult when traveling and I questioned the safety.

Cheverolet and Ford make large passenger vans, but the Nissan NV Passenger Van was head and shoulders above what they had to offer.  This is why we chose the Nissan NV Passenger Van:

It has the upgrades inside that a nice SUV would have.

USB port to connect our ipod, ipad, or iphone.
Bluetooth
Navigation and touch screen.
Rear back up camera (shows me what is behind me).
Front Sonar System
Sliding door (other big vans have two doors that open)
Air bags on the sides of the van to protect all passengers
Head rests (other big vans don't have head rests)
Individual seats (other big vans just have big benches)
Seat belts are in the seat (other big vans have seat belts that come from the ceiling)
Leather seats (heated in front)
Seats 12 (seats can be removed or rearranged)

It fits in our garage.  Not all garages are tall enough, but many are.  We specifically looked for this when we bought our house.  The door has to be 5 panels high.