An after-Christmas delight

Hospital's first newborn of the new year brings joy to his parents, siblings with a well-timed arrival

By Darcy Gray
The Hutchinson News
dgray@hutchnews.com

Micah Emmanuel Roberts, the New Year’s baby, is surrounded by his siblings – Keian, left, Megan, Blake and Melia – and his parents, Ty and Amy, on Thursday at Promise Regional Medical Center in Hutchinson.

Amy Roberts was due to give birth on Christmas, but little Micah Emmanuel Roberts decided New Year's Day was when he would make his entrance into the world."He just chose a different holiday," Amy said, smiling, as she looked down upon her infant son Thursday. "I never dreamed in a million years I'd have a New Year's baby."

Baby Micah, son of Ty and Amy Roberts of Wichita, was born at 12:18 a.m. Thursday at Promise Regional Medical Center of Hutchinson, weighing in at 10 pounds, 6 ounces and measuring 22 1/2 inches in length - a healthy baby boy.

The couple's hospital room was abuzz Thursday afternoon, not only because of their new bundle of joy, but because Micah's four siblings were everywhere. Ty, a Sylvia native, and Amy, a Stafford native, have had all their children at the Hutchinson hospital, including Blake, 10; Megan, 8; Melia, 4; and Keian, 2.

"We stay pretty busy," Ty said, laughing. "They're definitely a blessing."

The Roberts family is nothing short of extraordinary.Ty, a field director for the Boy Scouts of America, is a former Reno County Sheriff's deputy who also served in the Army Reserve as a military police officer.

Amy, a stay-at-home mother and freelance writer, started homeschooling their children about six years ago and has made cloth diapers for each of the children, too.

"The cloth diapers aren't like they used to be," Ty said. "She makes them with snaps and Velcro."

And the oldest children are a "huge help" with the younger children, he said. Even in the hospital room Thursday, 4-year-old Melia quickly retrieved both a pacifier and a bottle of formula when baby Micah was inconsolable. And Blake, at 10, can already cook.

"I help hold a lot," Blake said, proudly describing his experience taking care of the babies. "I'm not that good at changing diapers, though."

"They all help each other out, and they're all very close," Amy said.

From tragedy to joy
The past year has been an emotional one for the Roberts family.Emily Roberts, who was born on the Fourth of July in 2007, died last February at 7 months old.Six weeks later, the couple discovered Amy was pregnant with Micah.

Ty said Emily had intestinal malrotation and was not able to endure the multiple surgeries needed to correct the condition, which causes twisting of the intestines.But the couple will make certain all their children know what a blessing young Emily was to the family, he said.

"She taught us a lot of things," he said, with a tear in his eye.

He grabbed an open Bible from the table in the hospital room, where a gift basket full of Micah's diapers and new toys sat, and quickly pulled out pictures of Emily with the family.

"In Ephesians, it says life is like a vapor," Ty said. "Everyone has a certain amount of time, and she taught us a lot in the time she was here."As Christians, we view (her death as) she's that much ahead of us."

"Our children are blessings," Amy said, "and we hope the Lord will continue to bless us."

Ty added, "However many (children) the Lord blesses us with, we'll do our best to raise them as good Christian men and women."

Amy thought about having another child and noted the Roberts children have been getting "successively bigger," from their firstborn Blake, who weighed more than 8 pounds at birth, to Micah, coming in more than 10 pounds.

"We spent Christmas Eve in Stafford with my family," said Marilyn Minks, Amy's mother. "And she was monstrous. She always heard those rumors, 'She must be having twins.' "

"No, I'm just having a toddler," Amy said.

As Melia wrestled with Ty's father, Greg Roberts, aka "Papa Greg," Ty acknowledged the family had "maxed out" their minivan.

"We want a 12- or 15-passenger van," he said. "It's definitely something we'll have to look at."

Oh Christmas Tree ... We found you.

I like to call this story of the quest for the perfect tree.

Not a brown tree. Or a tree trunk.

Not a Charlie Brown tree. Or a hall tree

A big, pump, green tree is what we were after.

It was a dark and snowy night.

Ok, not really, but it was a cool, crisp day. And there was a perfect tree to be found amid a small clump of pines at Hullets Christmas Tree Farm near Hutchinson.

So we went traipsing. We ran. And we managed to secure a tree that would be deemed perfect by just about anyone, including Charlie Brown. 

By nightfall, that tree had lights. It had ornaments. It had class. It was a Bickel-perfect Christmas tree. And the girls were happy. 

But it's three weeks later. Christmas music is off the radio. The tree droops in the living room. And I am sad. 

I still have Charlie Brown Christmas on DVD. 

A successful deer season

Another year of successful deer hunting. I bagged an 8-pointer. John got a buck and a doe, and now we are in the middle of processing nearly 200 pounds of deer meat! The girls love it. So far, meals have included deer steak, deer breakfast sausage and deer brats!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

So they lost their first competitive competition

Little Brett and Daddy waiting for the 2 and under contest judging.

Yes, Kaci has her pacifer in her mouth.

Happy Brett.

We're losers, but we sure are cute!

Kaci

Grrr ... I'm a Giraffe

My children are losers.

As we all are at some point of our lives.

It might sound harsh, but it’s true. Some of us have lost participating in sporting events. Others have lost in 4-H showmanship contests, playing video or board games and even the lottery.

My little girls’ first loss, however, came at the Gypsum Fall Festival’s Halloween contest.

Not a big deal? Oh contraire.

For years, I prided in the fact that I’d win this contest. I won as Oscar the Grouch, wheeling around the auditorium in a real trash can. I was a Smurf, with my face painted blue. I was Snoopy on a bike turned Red Baron airplane, a hula dancer with a real grass skirt, Michael Jackson with a microphone and the headless horseman on a stick horse.

All first places, mind you.

But this year, the girls’ first year, I didn’t prepare. I bought two cute giraffe outfits and figured that might work.

Boy, was I wrong. We lost to a book worm, which consisted of a mother pushing her baby in a umbrella stroller with a big cardboard book gracing the front.

Second place was Little Bow Peep with her “sheep” dog covered in white cotton balls. Coming in third was a sleeping bumble bee thing.

As for the girls, well, they handed us a bag of complimentary M&M’s, and we were on our merry way.

Oh, the pain. I’ve been bothered ever since at my poor attempt to dress the girls for their first official contest. I’ve failed my competitive nature. More than anything, I’ve failed as a mother.

No worries. I’m already making plans for next year. We won’t lose.

And, no, I’m not telling my grand plan.

Gypsum October Festival

The girls and I attended the 2008 Gypsum October Festival this year. I haven’t been back for the decades-old tradition since I graduated from high school, when our high school band director forced me to march with my trombone in the band (Yeah, he hated me :) ).

I grew up in the little Saline County town of Gypsum, population 400-something, if even that. I always loved the October Festival, included dressing up for the parade (I’ve been everything from Wonder Woman and Snoopy in a float, to the Red Baron and a pioneer on a covered wagon. I always won, too!).

Now, maybe the girls can enjoy it a little bit. At least, they liked the suckers all the politicians and others threw out.

Here are a few of the pictures from this year.

My dad, Gary Bickel, and his 1948 John Deere B.

We used to decorate it at Christmas. It was awesome. Now he doesn't do that as much. Probably because I'm not around to help and beg him to decorate it.

Dad, and the B.

OK, I'm not the best picture taker. But here is the backside of Rep. Josh Svaty, who was throwing candy. I doubt he'd read this, but if he did, I'd like to tell him I'm impressed with how long he stayed at the festival and mingled and hung around. Most politicans aren't that considerate. Anyway, he was there a good six or seven hours, and I don't think he was even hanging out with anyone.

My mom and Brett. Brett loves cows (one of her first words was cow and moo), and for some reason, kept calling the horses cows. At least she is a beef eater, like her mother.

Like I said, Brett loves the horses, or as she puts it, Cows. Aunt Lori needs to take her to her farm to see their stockers. She'd be ecstatic.

The girls sitting at the Gypsum gazebo. This is a rare moment of them sitting still.

Brett, my sister, Lori, Kaci, my nephew Jason and my brother-in-law Randy Hahn. They're watching the parade going down Main Street Gypsum.

Lori and Kaci watch the parade.

Grandma Karen and Brett.

Daddy's football team

The weather is colder. I love sweatshirt weather and watching football. Sadly, however, the football season is coming to an end.

I guess.

My husband coaches high school football. I usually go to the home games, at least for a little while.

With two girls, however, this proves to be a little difficult.

They won't sit in the stands. They won't stand on the sideline.

They want to run, run and run some more.

So, we walk. Around the track. For several miles.

We eat Fig Newtons and Cheerios and Teddy Grahams. And drink milk.

But when the food runs out, so do the girls.

They are home and in bed by half time.