Update - It's Been Awhile...

It certainly has been awhile since my last post.  What have we been doing this whole time?  Well, since the last post, Ira and I made a trip back to Indiana to visit my Aunt Bonnie and other family, my belly and butt continued to grow with the progression of the pregnancy, we suffered through a scorching HOT summer (40 days consecutive of 100+ temperatures with a total of 70 days of triple digit temps over the whole course of the summer), God graciously blessed my husband with a new job!, we ended one year of school and have started up another, I worked on different sewing projects, Emma lost three more teeth, Ira's hair has grown very long and he now looks like a hippy dude, Oliver has continued to keep us entertained, Elise's legs have grown longer, Avrie has blown us all away with his growth and abilities on the piano, Winston made a new friend - Rico - and made a world record for the number of burs one dog can get in a short time outside in the backyard, we haven't mowed our grass since June, the three oldest children went back to Indiana for a 2 week visit and I realized what big helpers they are to me, we changed the school room upstairs into a play room and moved all the school stuff downstairs, Travis repaired the tandem and now we go for bike rides, we celebrated our 11th year of marriage, and yesterday we became a family of eight.  As Travis put it, yesterday morning at 6:11 a.m. Eleanor Roselind Latta was ushered into our presence by grace for His glory and our overwhelming delight!  She was 7 lbs. 1.5 oz. and 20" long.  Head full of dark hair and beautiful skin.  She is simply amazing.  She took her time getting here, but we are so grateful for the gift that she is from our Lord.  The Lord answered prayer by allowing us to have another good birthing experience.  The only complications we had was me hemorrhaging about a liter of blood after delivery, but it was eventually gotten under control and I was able to go home with strict orders to be on bed rest for three days.  I was so blessed to have my midwives and birthing assistant at Inanna Birthing Center once again be a part of the experience, I am so grateful for each of them!  Now, for the first time out of all six children I've had, I am actually sleeping when the baby sleeps...except for right now because I can't, I think I'm on a sugar high.  I will post a picture soon of the little beauty...  Thank you all for your prayers and I ask that you continue to pray for healing.  Love to you all!