Where's My Spleen?

 It's been a strange week.  Looking around, everything seems to carry on as usual, but something is missing.  Is my spleen still here?  My body seems to be functioning as normal, but there is a cavity that used to be filled with something useful, and my organs are just not feeling as cozy lately.  The leftover pizza seems to be lasting longer than feels right.  The dishwasher and kitchen garbage seems to stop magically emptying themselves.  We are one toothbrush shy of natural.  And I can't get my hand to stop grabbing 9 forks when I set the table.

His Favorite Scripture- Jacob 6:12:
O be wise; what can I say more?

The Frog went to the Missionary Training Center for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints last Wednesday.  1:30pm, but who's tracking.  (me)  He jumped out of the van, flung his one rolling bag from the trunk ("Is that all you brought?" his host companion said) and waved goodbye (we took photos with the family at home before he left).  That was it.  There goes the beginning of the end of my life as a mother

Ok, I'm being dramatic, it will be another 18 years (at least) until the rest of my non-essential organs go off and leave me to slowly age and die* fend for myself, but this is truly a new phase of life and I'm not sure how I feel about it.

And why is it so quiet?  You'd think the other 7 people I'm living with would fill the void as quickly as my toddlers fill my phone memory with blurry photos, but it occurs to me- we didn't just lose our oldest child. He took with him all 8 relationships he had with every other member of our family.  36 relationships down to 28.  That's almost 1/4 of the relationships in this house!  How inconsiderate!

We are so proud of his maturity and willingness to put his life on hold for two years for the Lord and the people of Vancouver, WA.  But I sure miss him already.  12 days down, only 718 to go.

*The other day, Newt turned to me during lunch and said very matter-of-factly, "Mom.  When you get too old you're going to die."  True.

Merry Christmas 2025

Concise 2025 Update:

Sage: 21 mo - walks, talks, obedient, independent, giggly, loves shoes & doggies, ADORED

Newt: 3 - trampoline, glider bike, cars, counts, cuddles, tickles, loves to be chased, particular

Rose: 5 - home kindergarten, piano, learns to read, bikes, ballet, tea parties, dress-ups

Toad: 9- messy experiments, reads, programs, bikes, draws monsters, writes music

Hazel: 13 - roller blades, plays with AI, crafts, audio nooks, clay, draws, Stardew Valley

Peach: 15 - choir, READS, writes, drivers' permit, theater, babysits, walkman, makeup

The Frog: 17 - Dungeon Master, Cross Country, college application, drivers' license, writes programs, writes novels, Silksong video game

Jay: 40 - squats, programming, push-ups, cooks, pull-ups, reads, sauna, plunge, meat

Libby: 7!/5! - plays piano for mom, cleans, education director homeschool for co-op, Relief Society secretary, book clubs, Pilates

2025 Favorites:

TRIPS - Cancun, Denver, Disney World, & Universal Studios

RIDE - Tron (Magic Kingdom)

MOVIES - The Count of Monte Cristo (2024) and KPop Demon Hunters

CHILD - just kidding ;)

BOOKS - Anna Karenina, Fast Like a Girl, Isles of the Emberdark, Crave Series, Yumi and the Nightmare Painter, Harry Potter Series, AG Felicity Series, Bluey Books, Doggies: A Counting and Barking Book

We are grateful for you and the ways you have blessed our lives in the past.  We wish you a Christmas full of love and joy as we remember the gift of Christ this season.

The Sound of McCarthy - Christmas 2024

 

The kids run to Sagie each morning with glee,

But as her daddy, she’s Sage to me.

A new baby girl that was born in the spring-

These are a few kid McCarthy things.

Newt’s a cute runner; his own bed and chair,

Smiling li’l guy with a head full of hair.

Dinos and racecars and airplanes with wings-

These are a few kid McCarthy things.

Rosie the princess who goes to ballet

Loves when each time it’s a preschool day.

As you can guess, she likes sparkly rings-

These are a few kid McCarthy things.

When the teen fights,

When the pee stinks,

When I'm feeling sad

I simply remember my favorite kids

And then I don't feel so bad!

Toad is a boy who wonders, “what if

I made my own wings and jumped off a cliff?”

The whole family grins at ideas he brings-

These are a few kid McCarthy things

Hazel, young woman, with a whole mess of friends

Lazing in bed is the way that she tends.

Fab are the jokes and the facts that she flings-

These are a few kid McCarthy things.

Peach has rock climbing every weekend.

Need help with tots?  On her we depend.

Although we complain, we love when she sings-

These are a few new McCarthy things.

The Frog runs cross country and plays D&D,

SAT, ACT, and 2 APs.

Magic tricks done with aces and kings-

These are a few new McCarthy things.

When the car’s crammed,

When hot water’s low,

When the mess is bad,

I simply remember my favorite kids.

I love that I am their dad!

Merry Christmas from 

the McCarthy Family Singers

Welcome Baby McCarthy 7.0

 3-21-24

4:33 PM

7 lbs 3 oz

17.5” long 

“Sage”

I think Sage is running for the best baby ever award! So far she seems to have no day and night confusion and enjoys sleeping :-) her birth was also the best that could be helped for.

I think Sage is running for the best baby ever award! So far she seems to have no day and night confusion and enjoys sleeping :-) her birth was also the best that could be helped for.

I was really done with being pregnant. Because of my “advanced maternal age “ The doctors had encouraged me to be induced a week early than her due date which was March 25. I allowed them to induce me for Nute and it was my least favorite birth by far. Since all my check ups were looking very healthy. I decided to wait and see if I could come naturally, but scheduled an induction date for the day after her due date.  Thursday morning, early in the morning, I had a couple of contractions, strong enough to wake me up and hoped that was a sign, and indeed it was. I had very spread out contractions all morning, but not close enough together to be convinced of anything real happening. By noon they were about 15 minutes apart  And I began timing them. They hovered around 10 minutes apart for quite a while and then suddenly I had a really big contraction after playing a card game with peach and it felt serious. Contractions two minutes apart. I decided we should go to the hospital at about 345.  we picked up my mom from the senior center on the way and brought her home, then high tailed it to the hospital and got there a little after 4 o’clock. I got out of the car, which luckily was able to be parked in labor and delivery parking, and my first contraction out of the car broke my water. Phew!  Some nice lady gave me the wheelchair she was returning and we barged onto a closing elevator.  The check in lady said she thought that the contractions I was having meant the baby was close. I got to my room and changed into my gown and when they checked me, they said I was at 10 cm. I waited a couple more contractions and then,  third time’s the charm and sage came out in one gigantic karate push .  It was amazing! I feel my healing has been faster than any other, baby, which surprised me being number seven. I was a little worried my overly stretched out body wouldn’t be able to handle it :-) 

PS She measured surprisingly short when born, but at her 4 day appt she was 19", so I think it might have been wrong :|

She is completely adored by all of her siblings, and we just love having her in our family. 

Rose's Birthdays

  Little Rose just turned 4!   💖

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