Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!

So here is great big thank you to my cute little sister Caralee. She gave my blog a face lift and I have to say that I love it! As for things here they still feel a little crazy but I have managed to get my dishes done 2 out of the 3 days this week! Yippee.
We have all taken our turns being sick this week with a combination of the flu and a cold. Now baby Tait has it. But we are managing and hopefully we can all get better for Tait's blessing on Sunday. Isn't ironic that we always seem to get sick soon after we bring a baby home. Sometimes I wonder if it is so that we will learn how to cope quicker. It's pretty overwhelming to bring home a new baby and when everyone gets sick its worse. But when we all start to get better I realize that life doesn't seem as hard as it did while everyone was sick and its a little easier to settle into a normal routine.

So I just needed to say thank you to all of the people who have done so much for us since Tait has joined our family. So many of you have brought over meals and taken my kids and have been so supportive of me. I have felt Heavenly Father's love through each of you and I am so grateful. You have made me want to be more giving and loving to others so thank you, thank you, thank you.

We Are a Happy Family!

So my cute friend took these pictures for us and I have to say they turned out darling. Thanks Erin :) We are just having a wonderful time with our new little Tait boy. I forget how time consuming brand new babies are. It seems like I nurse and change diapers all day with little time to do anything else. If I want to do anything with my other kids my house gets neglected. How do you find the balance? I think that the thing that I must remember is to take it one moment at a time. This morning I looked at all of my children and felt so much gratitude for the blessings they are in my home. I am amazed that they are as healthy as they are and even though things feel a little crazy most of the time I wouldn't change places with anyone.
I love my family. Tolman is filling the role of the biggest brother perfectly. He always has to take time out of his playing to give some attention to Tait and give me a kiss and tell me that he loves me. He is attentive to most of the little babies he comes across and I can see that he love his brothers and sisters so much. I am grateful for the tender way he treats them. Kimball is also very excited to have a little brother. He keeps telling me that he wants to teach Tait how to play with cars and guys and he can't wait for him to get a little bigger so they can play. He always asks me where the baby is and wants to be as near to him as he can get. My sweet Eden girl is so precious. She is a little Mother for sure. She always has to carry around a baby and today I watched her burp her doll the same way she has seen me burp Tait. She is no longer the baby and at first she didn't seem to like that too much but I can see her growing into a little girl and talking more and more. Tait brings peace to our house. When he opens his eyes he looks so wise and I find myself wishing that I could know what he knows and and bring peace to those around me as he does.
It seems like my little family is changing, growing and I cannot do anything but sit back and watch. I long to be able to hold on to them and keep them close to me forever. The world seems such a wicked and scary place how can I let my babies out there? How will I know if I taught them enough to withstand the evil that threatens to consume us? I start to get scared when I think too much about these things and then I have to sit back and remember to let go and let the Lord take control. The phrase "Be still and know that I am God" reminds me that he has gone through all of this. I imagine that it was just as hard for him to let us go knowing we all were going to make mistakes that would keep us from coming home to him. I think it was especially hard for Him to let our Savior come here knowing what his other children would do to him and the almost impossible task before him. But... he knew it was essential for us we would never make it home without him. What a gift he has given us in His Only Begotten Son. I am so grateful to have a loving Heavenly Father who is in control and can take me by the had and show me how to raise my children. And a Savior who has done just that,be made it possible for a sinner even such as I to continually be forgiven of my mistakes and be saved if I can endure. How blessed we all are.

Say hello to Baby Tait

Tait Joseph Knighton, born Sunday, May 4, 2008 at 11:49 pm, weighing 8 pounds and measuring 20 inches long. The name "Tait" is a family name from LeAnn's Father's side and is of Old English origin, meaning "cheerful." The name "Joseph" is the name of the Prophet of the Latter-day Restoration, is of Hebrew origin, and means "God will increase." And I think that both of those names are very appropriate for this little man who has joined our family. God has certainly increased the "cheer" in my heart and in our family by sending us this new child.

It should first be understood that this is Reeve writing this post. It is my first experience "blogging," so forgive me if I bore you. Tait was born 11 minutes away from my birthday, May 5th. Consequently, the name that we had picked out for him months ago almost changed to Reeve Jr. But it was not to be...he was destined to be Baby Tait.

It may be too early to know what his personality will bring to our thus far dynamic family chemistry, but if his peaceful nature is any indication, his addition will hopefully be a pleasant one. He is a beautiful baby, and our family is excited to have him home. Those of you who have known us for a time are aware of the struggles we had getting our daughter home, so this experience has been a blessing.

There are lots of unknowns right now. Obviously, we have never had four children, so we don't know what to expect. Tolman is 5 now, so he will be entering Kindergarten. Kimball is 3, and still provides plenty of challenges. Eden is not quite 2 and is probably not ready to forfeit the title of "baby." And now we have Tait. We have four booster/car seats that fill the hind seats of our van and we would be hard pressed to attempt to fit another. I've heard it can be done, but I don't see how.

Some of the biggest unforeseen challenges will be encountered when I am away and LeAnn must manage on her own. Church, work, school and whatever else takes me away leaves her flying solo much of the time. And she does a fabulous job! Any advice from those of you who have 4 kids ages 5 and under in 6 years of marriage would be much appreciated.