I don’t know how the weather is where you are, but baby, is it cold outside here! I have a love/hate relationship with winter. I want the change of seasons, the snow and the cold you feel to your bones, though I tire of both quickly. What I love most about winter is what is taking shape underground, waiting for new life. So while I’m shivering away in the frozen tundra, we’ll pause to think about the possibilities, mourn what we’ve lost and focus on love and hope.

If you have an article idea you would like to share, please send me an email at ctabel@hotmail.com. I would like to focus on adoption in a future issue, please let me know if you would be willing to share.

Enjoy, Cheri

From the Editor: Recently there was a healthy discussion on the Forum regarding the choice to have more than one child. The original post is below, along with many of the responses. To read more about it or to join in the conversation, go online to the SMC Forum (http://forums.singlemothersbychoice.org/).

I am struggling with whether I want to seriously consider adopting another child. Although there are several forums for which I could ask a question about the financial responsibilities (T42/ Adopt4More), emotional strain/happiness and sibling rivalries/love (parenting more than one), I’m interested in digging a bit deeper or perhaps searching backward.

The thing is, I won’t even consider the financial/logistical stuff until I’m able to get clear in my head why I want a second child. In my early 30s I wanted five children. Each year after 35 I subtracted one child from my 5-kid goal. By the time I adopted my son I was in the negative numbers. I reconciled that one would be fine … IF I ever decided to become a parent. When my son was born, I called him my one and only.

Now I am the mom of the most amazing, brilliant, fun, loving little boy, and I think I want to parent another child. There are several reasons that come to mind quickly – 1) I want to nurture, love and raise a child to become a kind, productive adult; 2) I don’t want to put Grayson under a microscope as an only child, or make him the center of my universe; and 3) I am older and my family is small. Although there is no guarantee that siblings grow up to become close, I do not want to leave my son in this world alone.

My reasons make sense to me, but for some reason I’m not convinced they are enough to justify pulling the purse-strings tighter, making my small house feel smaller, and having even less “me time” than I have now.

Simply put, I am less interested in who has it better – an only child who doesn’t have to share or the multi-child household where no one is ever lonely. I know every situation is different. So here are my questions:

My questions for those of you who are preparing to become a SMC is:
1. Are you an only child who intends to have just one child; or
2. Are you an only child who intends to have more than one child; or
3. Do you have siblings but intend to have only one child; and
4. Why/how did you come to your decision?

For those of you who are done having or adopting children:
1. Did you intend to have the number of children you are parenting;
2. In your heart-of-hearts, do you feel you made the right choice; and
3. What would you have done differently and why?

Responses from some members of SMC:

I grew up with a sister (we were less than two years apart) and it was great to have a playmate. My sister and I weren’t close in college and our twenties, but are much closer now. We are in touch regularly, visit each other often and are sharing parenting experiences as she also has a toddler (and a husband). I always wanted to have more than one, but had my daughter just before I turned 41. There is no way I can swing two financially at this point, so I still think about adopting a second one at some point. But this is something I am not 100% sure about, as we have family in other countries and I like to travel, but tickets for three would make most of travel prohibitive for me. So as much as I think that a sibling could be good (though I don’t think that no sibling is bad) for many of the reasons you point out in your original post, financial part is big in my thinking/ constraints. I think about the impact on our quality of life two will have and it gives me a pause.

I am the youngest of three and have a singleton.

As a child I said I would have two children, a boy and a girl, before I hit age 30. I had my son when I was 40 after trying many times and many fits and starts and stops.

As I got older and looked at my friends and their families, I sort of realized that if you’re going to have 2 kids, you should have 3, because then at least 2 will always be talking–not necessarily the same 2, but 2. From my informal observations, I noted that people with one sibling didn’t stay all that connected. People with more than one always had someone to talk about LOL.

Had I been successful at becoming a mom at an earlier age, I might have considered more. But my son was born when I was 40, and he is a dominant personality. I didn’t even consider thinking about another till he was about four and then the thought of diapers and late nights killed that idea.

And yes, money was a consideration. I figured that I wanted to be able to give him everything and if I had more than one, I’d only be able to pay for daycare. I freely admit that my son is rather spoiled, but part of that I think is a reaction to my parents’ NOT buying me stuff. I buy him stuff just because I know it will make him happy and therefore it makes me happy.

At 11, he is happy being an only. I do worry that he will have to deal with an aging me all on his own. But my brother lives in Israel and my sister is in Massachusetts. My parents are doing okay living in their house (which is about 15 minutes from where I live in Queens), but I do a lot and make sure they’re okay, so a lot still falls on my shoulders. My brother has 3 daughters and they stressed closeness growing up. These three girls are each other’s best friends. It’s lovely. But we’re not close because of the distance. So my son knows his cousins, but doesn’t really “know” them and they’re much older than he is. They are 30, 27, and 19.

So currently I’m happy with my choice of one. In another 5 years, I might have regrets, but who knows.

I am 48 and 5.5 years into my journey to become a mom. Now on adoption waiting list for 3 yrs.

I have three siblings and always felt if I got married, I’d like to have three; as an SMC definitely wanted two, although I have been realistic that after having one at my age (having not anticipated this would take me so long) I may change my mind. I have wrestled very hard with this issue – like you. Since my circumstances have now changed I am only planning to have one. During counseling to work through this issue, the counselor said that often people seek to recreate what they had as a child. The counselor was an only and he had one child and he feels fully satisfied. I worry that having one I will not be satisfied and I will always feel a loss.

I am extremely close with my sister, she is my best friend. I can’t imagine not having a sibling and how that would be. But I know that not all siblings are close. My mom has a brother, but he has extreme mental health issues, so for my mom, it’s like she’s an only. She’s had to bear the full burden of taking care of my grandmother and it’s been very difficult on her. I worry a) if I only have one child and something happens to her, I’ll have no children left b) she’ll be lonely c) it’ll be harder on me because she won’t have an in-house playmate (growing up we always had someone to play with) d) she’ll have the burden of taking care of me in my old age and e) she won’t have anyone to share that family experience with – like when I complain to my sister about my mom or we laugh about childhood things we shared in our family. I just can’t imagine what that’s like to not have someone to look back on your childhood with and say, remember when….

Although I have made the decision to have only one, it still is not easy. I still worry I will not be happy with one and that later it will cause issues.

“How can two people be a complete family?”

These decisions are very difficult and life hands us what it hands us. I never thought I’d be single into my 40s. I never thought I wouldn’t be able to have biological kids. I never thought it would take me so long to become a mom. Sometimes what our dreams are for ourselves and our family in our 30s and how we envision things have to morph when life works out differently. You take the information you have at the time and you make the best decision you can. I have one aunt and uncle who couldn’t have bio kids and always wanted two – once they adopted their daughter, they fell whole and satisfied. I have two great aunts and uncles who couldn’t have kids and so they just never did. I have another great aunt who had one son and he was hit by a car at age 12 and died, by that time they were too old to have anymore and adoption wasn’t as common back then. Life is very unpredictable.

You know, I am thinking about this exact same thing. I am now the proud mother of an almost 8 month old son. I love him more than anything else in all of the universes.

I am one of five children.

I originally thought I only wanted one child, because I am somewhat selfish and want to have some time for me.

Now, I’m thinking I would like another, but have the same worries as you. I can afford to take care of Lincoln very well, but if I add a second, how? This first year of his life I estimate will cost $25k. That includes daycare, healthcare, food, clothes, toys/bed/all of that stuff, etc. I don’t have another $25k to spare and what about the time?
I don’t have any answers. I want another child for the reasons you list, as well as having this terrible fear of losing my son. I’m 45 now, and was lucky to get pregnant at 43, that said; to get another sibling it would be an adoption. I’m fine with that, but not sure I can handle the rest. I continue to ponder.

I have one younger sister. She is three years younger than me. I don’t remember ever playing with her as children, but my parents insist that we did. I do remember often wishing I were an only child! Now we get along well. I would not say we are close, but I live in Vancouver and she lives in England.

When I started this journey I said only one, but secretly in my mind thought I’d have 2. Then my daughter was born and even though she was an easy baby, and slept through the night right away, and was healthy, etc. etc., I was exhausted all the time and always felt like I didn’t have one ounce left to give. So thoughts of a second were “for later”, when she was out of diapers, then when she was four, then when she started school. Then I realized as others have said that I just didn’t want to go BACK to the diapers, sleepless nights etc. and that I don’t have the energy or patience at 44 to handle two kids, and that it just wouldn’t be fair to either one because I would be stretched too thin to parent either of them well, and just when I am able to start doing fun things with my daughter, that we can both enjoy, I would be pulled back into babyhood and would miss her next few years. I was also terrified of having a child with special needs or higher needs the second time around and how that would affect my life with my daughter, or of something happening to me during the pregnancy or delivery etc. And finances are also a huge issue. We have a comfortable, but not extravagant, life now in a very expensive city. There is no way I could afford a second child in daycare without giving up pretty much everything we do – all travel, all my daughter’s activities, probably my car, and even then I’d be stretched to the limit. And I just don’t see myself realistically being able to do that.

But, I don’t honestly feel like our family is “complete” most of the time. How can two people be a complete family? I do feel guilty that my daughter won’t have a sibling, doesn’t have any family nearby, has no one to talk to or commiserate with about me or to help with me in old age (although I know there are no guarantees on that one anyway). No father, no cousins, no siblings. It doesn’t seem fair somehow. It is on my mind a lot lately, not sure why. Probably because at 44 I am really reaching the limit of where I could biologically have a second, so even if I don’t really want to, I’m thinking about it. For her part, she seems fine with it. She doesn’t ask. She has a perfect “only child” personality. She is a bit of a loner by nature. She plays well by herself. She doesn’t need to be entertained most of the time.

So long answer. I have one, and while I know it is the right decision for our family, it does not feel perfect all the time. If I could have done anything differently I would have started earlier and had more money somehow. Bottom line though is I don’t think I’d have a second without another pair of hands.

I have two girls, 4.5 and just turned 1. I love having two. And honestly, if I were younger and more fertile and finances were not an issue, I would love to have three. In fact, I suspect I’m one of those people who would never feel ‘complete’ in the number of kids she had (unless maybe I had 6). I hear about people feeling complete and feel some envy.

This being said, I feel very, very grateful for two – I tried for a long time, had a lot of heart ache, put myself through a lot, and spent a lot of money to get pregnant with both my first and second child.
Sometimes, I wake up and am cuddling my two kids and think, ‘OMG, I did it, I did it, this is my family! I pulled it off!’

For me, I wanted two because of a feeling of wanting a more ‘complete’ family, which is intangible for me and hard to describe, but visceral. I guess I wanted the busy-ness, loudness, playing, arguments, ‘full’ family that I had growing up. And even though I have found some parts of parenting not fun – the logistics, disciplining, lack of sleep – I just love being a mom and would love to do it as much as possible for as many kids as I can, in the perfect world.

Some posters have talked about loss in their or loved ones’ lives as affecting their decision. My nephew (who I lived near, was close to, loved so much) was a healthy, smart, great kid and got suddenly ill (cancer) and died two years later at 10 years old, and his loss was and is searing to my family. This might be why unconsciously why I want more kids – realizing that my second nephew (6 yo when his big brother died) was now the only child was wrenching. (My sister ended up having another child, who is now a toddler, and it makes me want to cry in gratitude that my surviving nephew is now a big brother and they have ‘reinvented’ a family, keeping the memory of my older nephew alive while adding another child).

And I agree with others that having siblings doesn’t mean that the two (or more) kids will get along as adults. My older brother and sister and I aren’t very close and are very different. But, even then, there is something, at least in my family, that is solidified by the fact that we are ‘blood’. Meaning – I have had some friends (even some close ones) come and go in my life, but I know I can always count on my sister and brother. Even when we haven’t talked in a long time, even when we are not getting along, I know that we would do anything for each other and that they are ‘mine’ and I am ‘theirs’. And that, even without being closer, is very meaningful to me.

Two has worked out in our house. My kids adore each other – so far, it’s been really, really good between them. I knew my one year old would look up to my oldest, but what’s surprising is that my 4.5 year old really loves having a little sister and is so proud of her and LOVES to play with her.

But. I think that having one kid is great, too and I agree with other’s thoughts about how nice it is just to have one child and focus on one. I have found parenting two much harder than one – at least for the first year – ask me in another year after more practice! I feel like my parenting took a hit when I had a second – I lost my patience more easily and my first child started acting up in a way that shocked me. It was only after about six months after my second daughter’s birth that things started to get easier for all of us and more ‘normal’ and now, 12 months later, I’m just starting to feel like it is totally manageable.

Here are the reasons that would support a choice of having one child: With two, even if I had an infinite amount of money, what I really need is more of ME to give – more time for each. Even if I can pay countless babysitters, the kids still want ME and there is very little time left for me and so many things I want to handle personally have been put to the side. I really never get out to do social things (almost never and when I do, I’m home by 8 pm) and I REALLY miss that and need that.

I also don’t think I’ve been able to be as patient with my kids now that I have two. As a singleton, if my first child did something silly (refused to go to sleep, kicked up her legs), I would have laughed and played with her. Now, with two, I just do not have the time for that, which is sad for me. It’s not only impatience – it is LITERALLY that everything is a schedule and I often feel like I am rushing to get them out the door, get dinner cooked and get them to eat, get them to sleep so they have enough hours. I miss the luxury of having time that I did with a singleton.

It’s such a personal choice. Having two is great for me, but like anything, there are pros and cons and having one is great, too.

When I tell my son I love him, this is what he says. And it was also his gift to me on Christmas.

When I posted this to Facebook, I received a variety of responses from mothers about their love saying “rituals.” I was delighted by their stories, so I posted to the Forum to hear even more.

 

My nephew (at the time was about 3) and started saying Love you bunches!! We aren’t sure where he learned it! It became my family’s signature line and in emails we just say LYB! I am certain I will use this with my soon to be daughter!

We do a version of the love you more. We both say “I love you more”, no I love you more, and eventually I say “we love each other equal” or we just stop. Recently we have started “I love you more than….” and fill in the blank, currently he loves me more than Minecraft, quite a big deal, I love him more than chocolate and my iPhone, etc.

My son is adopted and recently he tells me that he could never have a better life without me (sic); he also used to tell me I was the best mother in his life and I was not sure if he was referring back to his birth mother and foster mother until one day he said “better than even S (his foster mother)”. Adoption adds another layer of complexity.

“Currently he loves me more than Minecraft, quite a big deal, and I love him more than chocolate and my iPhone.”

My son isn’t speaking yet, but one of my favorite books to read to him is “Guess How Much I Love You,” by Sam McBratney. In the book, a baby hare tries to come up with a metaphor to show his papa hare how much he loves him. Each time the baby hare comes up with one (“I love you as high as I can hop”), the papa hare lovingly one-ups him (“But I love you as high as I can hop”). One of my favorite parts of the book is at the end, when the baby hare finally comes up with something that seems big enough and that he’s sure papa hare can’t top: “I love you right up to the moon.” Exhausted, the baby hare closes his eyes and falls asleep. Papa hare kisses him goodnight and whispers to him “I love you right up to the moon… and back.” That line gets me every single time! I look forward to the day when my honey can truly understand those words as I read them to him!

I’ve been saying the same phrase to Tate as I put him to bed every single night since we came home from the hospital when he was 3 days old. “Night Night Tate Tate. I love you as big as the sky. As far as the moon. And as long as time.” And when I say “I love you” any of the myriad times during the day, I get: “Thank you.”

We have several…
B: I love you
M: I love you too
B: I love you more
M (at least if I did what B wanted): I love you less (I have yet to say that but he keeps trying!)
M: I love you to infinity and beyond
B: I love you to infinity and beyond plus one
B: I love you
M: I love you too
B: I love you three
M: I love you four
B: I love you five
etc, etc for as long as we are both willing to count.
We also do the thing where you point to your eye, then to your heart, and then to the other person to sign out I love you, and the second person holds up two fingers at the end for I love you too.

I bought the book, “I love you Goodnight” when I found out I was pregnant and read it to Tayten every night until about a year. Before going to sleep I say, “I love you like a pig loves mud Tayt.” and he will say, “I love you like a kitty loves milk Mommy!” This is our favorite saying. We will sometimes just come up with a whole bunch of comparisions. Tayten has also started with the “Guess how much I Love You” lines.

Calliope can’t say “I love you” yet in words but she crosses her arms in the American Sign Language sign for love.
And every night, I say to her what my grandparents said to me every week on the phone for my entire life,
“I love you as deep as the ocean,
As high as the sky,
As wide as the world is wide.”
My sister says this to her kids too, so that makes it especially sentimental and nice.

By Cheri Tabel

I’m not sure if you’ve seen the “Demand a Plan” video, but whenever I think of Newtown lately (and it is often), I hear these voices saying “Newtown” four times.
Newtown
Newtown
Newtown
Newtown

I had a purely visceral reaction on the morning of December 14th when the initial reports of the school shooting started to spread. I remember shaking and feeling nauseous. I couldn’t move from my office chair as I clicked from link to link in hopes that the news was wrong. As more news became available – especially the number of victims and their ages, the shaking became worse. The paralysis even more so. Oddly enough, our office holiday party was that afternoon – I had to pull it together and move. In a way, it was a blessing – it kept me from running to my son’s school to get him. All I wanted to do was hug him, take him home and never leave.

But after the party, I sat in my car, listening to President Obama address the nation and the shaking came back. The tears started to flow. Everywhere around me were holiday lights, decorations and music. Here I was in my car, bawling, my shaking hands dialing my mother.

Some of you may have seen this photo of Marina Krim. Sadly, a photographer captured her at the most crushing moment of her life – shortly after finding her children stabbed in her apartment by their nanny. This photo haunts me, as it is the moment you see her mind splitting from the reality she knew: happy home with three children to her new raw reality of death and despair.

All he knows is that on a Friday morning in December, a man hurt a lot of people with a gun.

On the 14th, as I headed home trying to pull myself together, this is the image I had in my head. The reality I knew of school being a safe, nurturing place was overtaken by the most horrific reality: school as a hunting ground.

That entire weekend was a dichotomy of self: internally, my hand was pressing against closed eyes, trying to shake the image of what happened inside Sandy Hook. Externally, I was the happy, smiling parent shielding my son from the existence of monsters.

I’ve shared very little with my son about Newtown, as I’m not sure how his eight-year-old self would process the killing of children younger than himself or that it happened in Connecticut (I travel there often). All he knows is that on a Friday morning in December, a man hurt a lot of people with a gun.

I’ve made a silent pact with myself – to think of the victims and their families every day, to live fully in the moment and cherish the precious day to day acts that the parents no longer have (see “How do you say ‘I Love You?’”) and to be kind.

The image in my mind has faded. My mind has reconciled the horrific act with what I know: this moment. This moment is all I know for sure. Though there is fear with the reconciliation – if we forget the pain, it’ll happen again.

Newtown
Newtown
Newtown
Newtown

No doubt about it – our kids are adorable and funny. Need proof? Just read the things they say.

This one is from when Ruthie was just past 5 and I let C’s Kindergarten teacher has a rather odd last name…one for which there is widespread confusion regarding pronunciation. So before C started school, we had this conversation.

Me: Do you know how to say, “Miss X” (where X represents her name).
C (exasperated) : Yeeees. “Miss X.”
Me: Great! You just know everything!
C: Not how to drive.

On the way to daycare this morning sans sunglasses:
Grayson: Ooh Mommy, es [it’s] sunny.
Me: Yes, the sun is bright this morning.
Grayson: Mommy, turn it off, pease.

I made pork chops in the crock pot on Monday as I knew I would be later getting home from work. Tuesday I cooked some fresh fish fillets that needed to be used up. On Wednesday I served the leftovers from Monday. Jessica saw her dinner plate and exclaimed, “Is this back again?”

Judy’s comfort toy was Bunny. It started to fall apart. So I got the spare out of the closet, and I explained that Bunny was old and we were just going to put it on the shelf. She could sleep with the new one.
Fast forward a couple of days. I’m dragging a piece of furniture down the stairs (all by myself, because, yanno, I’m a SMC) and I’m struggling and grunting and groaning. Finally I just blurted out “oh, I’m too old for this!”
Judy asked “Are we just going to put you on a shelf now?”

My boys start kindergarten in the fall and they will be in a dual language immersion program in Mandarin.
Eric came home the other day and asked me why his friend Jake was going to English Kindergarten.
I told him that is the school his Mama picked for him.
Eric’s response, “but Mommy, Jake already knows English. Will they teach him anything else?”

This morning:
Me “We’re in a hurry. I’ll put on one sock and shoe, and you put one on.”
L “NO.”
“Ok, your foot will get dirty and you’ll have to put it on at school.”
L “Mom, are you mad?”
“No, I’m annoyed, which is halfway to mad.”
L “Your face looks ‘noyed.”

Last night I was changing Cara’s diaper and accidentally put the wrong side under her bum, so I took it out and started over.
Me: Silly mama, put it backwards again. Ok, diaper, take two!
Cara: Silly mama, it’s not a tutu!

One of our members, Charyn Levy and her 12-year old son, Kenny, are in the midst of a trying time as a result of both damages sustained during Hurricane Sandy, as well as medical issues that they are currently facing.

Kenny has suffered from Tumor Necrosis Syndrome since he was a few months old, which causes monthly episodes of extremely high fevers, severe pain, and inflammatory issues. They have participated in clinical studies at NIH for the past 10 years, and have managed the ongoing symptoms to the best of their ability.

During recent months, Charyn spent her savings building an apt in the downstairs of their home to accommodate a healthcare provider to provide some assistance. The apartment – including new walls, flooring, kitchen, bath, etc. were completed 3 days before Hurricane Sandy struck.

Located a block from the water in Brooklyn, Charyn and Kenny’s home suffered massive damage from Hurricane Sandy, which broke the roof, chimney and windows, and submerged their house, garage, and car under 13 feet of water. Charyn has been out of work since the flood: pumping out the water and sewage; replacing the heating, water, and electrical systems; dumping their destroyed/contaminated furniture, clothes, and belongings; and gutting the walls/ceilings/floors.

Charyn began to struggle with nausea and pain which she attributed to the stress and contaminated water/mold she was dealing with. Last Monday, she went to the ER, where she was diagnosed with acute appendicitis and admitted. After a week in the hospital, Charyn has just returned home to recuperate.

If anyone would like to make a donation to help Charyn and her son get back on their feet before winter hits, and to provide some assistance to her and her son while she is recuperating, donations may be made through SMC. Go to http://www.singlemothersbychoice.org/community/ and click on the “Donate” box on the right side of the page. To be sure that your donation goes to Charyn, please send an email (SMC-office@pipeline.com) and let us know that you’ve made a donation for her.

SMC Donation

If you would like to make a tax-deductible donation to SMC, we are a non-profit 501.3c organization. You can send a check (SMC, PO Box 1642, NY NY 10028) or donate anywhere on the SMC website by clicking on the “Donate” button. We appreciate all donations, large or small and we will send you a letter of acknowledgement promptly after we receive your donation.

Want to be a Contact Person for SMC in your area?

The primary purpose of the CP is to welcome new members of SMC and to let them know what is happening on the local level. The CP is basically a friendly, welcoming person who responds when new SMC members reach out. She may also assist in setting up organizational meetings for new members and organizes local chapter meetings. The roles and responsibilities of a local chapter are distributed amongst those who are interested in having an active chapter. If you’re interested, contact the SMC office at smc-office@pipeline.com.

Colleen McGinn is the CP for Southeast Asia: (colleenmcginn@hotmail.com)

Kamesha Burrell is the new CP for the Dallas/Ft. Worth area: (vitaminknb@yahoo.com)

Natalia Belfiore is the CP for Tampa: (nbelfiore@ut.edu)

Eileen Freedes in Hauppauge, NY is the new CP for Suffolk County, NY: (efredes@optonline.net)

Carla Silvey in Berkeley, CA is a new CP for CA: (cmsilvey@hotmail.com)

Nathalie Cruden is a new CP for Iowa City: (smc.nathalie@gmail.com)

SALE! DVDs of Grown SMC Children’s Panel Available!

At our 30th anniversary conference we had several wonderful panel discussions. The DVDs are now on sale – $25 each or all four for $75. To purchase the DVD of this panel, or to order the set of all four DVDs, including a talk by Jane Mattes about the special issues that we need to be aware of to assure that our children get the best possible upbringing, go to the SMC website and click on “Materials”.

I’m over the moon about my the new arrival of my daughter, Destan Bronte Topalli! She was born on November 14, 2012, weighing 7 lb 11oz and measuring a whopping 21.5 inches long. I couldn’t be more in love and thankful!

Tara Volungis is pleased to announce the birth of her son, Cole Hugh. He was born on October 11, 2012 at a whopping 9 pounds 12 ounces and was 20.5 inches long. Mom and baby are doing great. Big brother Nate (16 months at Cole’s birth) is slowly warming up to the idea of a brother.

Mom Jill and Big Sister Josie welcomed Marian Elizabeth Gosselink on August 21, 2012. She weighed 7 lbs. 6 ozs. and was 19.5 inches. She is a sweetheart.

Remember to notify us when you become a mother! If you have someone new in the house please send the information to ctabel@hotmail.com.