Mike [43], my husband. He is a painter by trade and an artist by choice. He spends most of his time at work in order to provide for our family, but when he is home he makes the most of every second. He loves the outdoors and often takes the kids hunting, fishing or camping. When I met him, he had three children from a previous marriage:

Justin [24], his oldest son. Mike and Julie had Justin in high school and he is quite a few years older than the other kids. He is married to Michele and they have one daughter, Madison.

Mica [14], Mike’s oldest daughter with Julie. Her given name is Micyala, named after Mike. She was three when Mike and I were married and she has lived with us most of her life. She is definitely daddy’s girl!

Michael [13] Mike’s son with Cecelia. After a DNA test in 2007, he officially became a member of the family. We have missed so much of his life. Because of the situation and his age, I won’t be writing about him in the blog unless/until he approves.

Mikal [12], Mike’s younger daughter with Julie. She was also named after him, but lived mostly with her mother until 2001. She came to live with us and has been here ever since.

Kristal [34], that’s me. When I met Mike, I had one daughter from a previous marriage:

Mia [16], my oldest daughter. When I found out I was pregant with her, I was finishing up my senior year of high school. There were many people who counseled me to have an abortion. I didn’t. I named her Mia because it means MINE, and I wanted her to know that she is mine. She is the light of my life and the best kid anyone could ask for. I can’t imagine a world without her in it!

When we married, we had an instant family of six… already larger than most. But we didn’t stop there. Over the past ten years we had four more children together:

Bleu [10], our first son together. When I was a little girl, I had a crush on a boy named Bleu. I told my sister that if I ever had a son I would name him Bleu. When I found out that I was having a boy, I didn’t mention anything about the name to Mike. We decided to name the baby Devin. It was a difficult delivery and the doctor ended up using forceps and a suction hose. When he was born, he didn’t make a sound. I was bleeding and the doctor was focused on me. The nurses had taken the baby and were huddled around him. I was asking why he wasn’t crying and Mike wouldn’t let me look at him. He held his hands over my eyes and tried to comfort me. When I heard the first cry, it was such a relief! Mike decided to name him Bleu because of his color when he was born. It wasn’t until afterwards that I told him the story of my childhood crush. Coincidence?

Butterfly [7], our first daughter together. She is a tough one! She gave me a hard time when I was pregnant. I developed a hernia and had to wear a brace. She ended up being born a month early, but strong as a horse! We let Mia pick a name for her when I was pregnant and she chose Sky. The doctor had told us that the baby’s kicks felt like butterflies, but I was complaining to Mike that this baby kicked MUCH harder! “We should name her Butterfly!” he said. “Butterfly Sky.” And that was that.

Jonathan [6], our surprise. Just a few months after I had Butterfly I found out I was pregnant again. This was a difficult pregnancy. My body wasn’t ready to go through the process again and I wasn’t mentally ready for another child so soon. I spent the last month of my pregnancy in the hospital an hour away from our home. He was born almost a month early, and has always been a little sickly. Mike wanted a son named Jon, but I convinced him to name him Jonathan and use Jon for short.

Echo [3], our baby. He is the light of my life and spoiled to death. When I started telling people I was pregnant, we heard the same thing over and over: Again? Another one? I joked to Mike that it sounded like an echo. We laughed and decided that whatever we had, a boy or a girl, we would name the baby Echo. His middle name is Chance, as a reminder that he is our last chance to get things right, our last chance to experience the wonder of being parents.

from left: Bleu, Mica, Mikal, Echo, Butterfly, Jon, Mia