The first two weeks with twins

It is hard to believe that the twins are two weeks old today.  In one way it seems like only yesterday that they were born yet in another way it seems like they've been part of the family forever.

No matter which way I look at it, I can't imagine a second without them.

It seems we've been blessed with two very laid back babies.  Libby, the older, darker and bigger of the two is a little more vocal with her younger and smaller sister seeming to be more placid.  Both are undemanding and settle quickly.  (Please Lord, don't let me have jinxed it by writing about it!).  

They don't seem to understand that with seven older brothers their chances of doing stuff like going out, dating and marrying are probably well off the cards so they may as well not bother day dreaming about it...

Here is one of the older brothers in question.  Joseph seemed so small.  Now he looks like an elephant baby in comparison to the twins.  He hasn't been fazed by their arrival at all.  He was curious when he first met them, leaning in for a closer look and then backing off quickly when they moved.  I think he thought they were dolls!  Now he ignores them.  We'll he is 12 months older than them and far too cool to hang out with his little sisters. 

The others battle over who the twins love most.  Paddy seems to think by making himself known to them at every waking moment he'll be in the lead...

It doesn't matter what is going on or what they are doing...

... no moment is too small to gatecrash...

... I'm enjoying cuddles...

... and so is Daddy...

All in all I'd say the first two weeks have been fun getting to know our newest family members.  I think these two would agree...

(No surprise to see Paddy in shot again!)

You can continue to keep up with our journey by subscribing to a full feed in your reader.  You can also chat with us on Twitter  (click here or search for the handle "@largerfamily") and become a Facebook friend too.   

Don't forget that our story on how and why we came to be parents of 11 children is available worldwide now.  Click for details on where you can buy your copy of "Larger Family Life", the book.


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It's official - we're everywhere!

The boys love to read.

It's not a bad thing.

It's a very good thing...

But none of them are reading my book which is available worldwide right now...

The paperback is now available on Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble, as well as other online and bricks and mortar stores in the UK.  You can now request your bookstores, sellers and libraries to stock the book, so please do go and ask whoever and wherever you can quoting the title, "Larger Family Life", author "Tania Sullivan" and ISBN: 978-1-4478-1320-0.

Please do request it.

It would make me very happy.

If you prefer the Kindle version you can download it both at Amazon.co.uk and at Amazon.com.

So there is no excuse for you not to read it... wherever you are!


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Could it be you?

Thank you to everyone who entered our competitions to win a copy of "Love Another Child" by Chris and Wendy Jeub, and for those who joined in my virtual baby shower to win a copy of our book, "Larger Family Life".

Now, to pick the winners for "Love Another Child" I used the Random Number Generator.  However I had difficulty copying the image showing the winning number so instead I took a photo.

Here is the first winner...

Commenter number 32 aka JennaKeller!

And winner number 2 is...

.... commenter number 10, aka Gen D'Orleans!

Well done to both of you!  You each win a copy of "Love Another Child".

As for the virtual baby shower, choosing a winner was very difficult.  You could not get away from the selection of t-shirts though and even though I am definitely not a fan of shirts with slogans on, I did actually quite like this one.  So Abba12, a copy of our book will be on its way to you!

Can the three winners please email me at family@largerfamilylife.com as soon as you can with your full name and address details?

Thank you to everyone for entering the giveaways.  Don't forget you have one more chance to win a copy of my book here but hurry, it closes on Monday.


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Today I'll be deciding which of my children I would rather not have had

And I'm going to the USA too.

Actually, today I will be getting ready for a photoshoot which is taking place this weekend and then I'll be off to the hospital for the twins' growth scan, so I won't really be in America.

I will be blogging from there though.  Later today I'm going be guest blogging over at www.jeubfamily.com where I'm going to be making a tough decision and trying to work out which of my children I would rather never have had.  Sounds harsh, does it?  Click over to the Jeub's website a little later to see what in the world I am on about.

In the meantime don't forget that there is only one day left to win a copy of Chris and Wendy Jeub's latest book, "Love Another Child".  I'll be picking two winners this time tomorrow so make sure you get your entries in fast.

And while you're here you can also enter to win a copy of our book, "Larger Family Life", which was only released this week and is still on its way to becoming available globally.  Both giveaways are open to entrants worldwide.



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Larger Family Life is also available on Kindle!

Our book is out now! (& I'm giving one away this week plus an extra chance to win)

After much planning, typing and beavering away, our book is finally completed and making its way into shops all around the world as I write.

We decided to take the questions we've been asked the most as our family has grown, and put them all into one book.  We explain how our convictions regarding family planning changed over the years through our spiritual and personal journeys.  We talk about how a mixture of determination, work and sacrifice has enabled us to carry out our beliefs.  We also share the things we learnt along the way, such as budgeting tips, planning for a large family Christmas, homeschooling and how we prepare to introduce a new member into the family.

This book isn't just for large families but it also appeals to those who are simply curious about them.  We wanted to share our story and our journey of where we came from and how we ended up as we are.  Through our story we hope we can encourage others to accept children into their lives if that is what they feel called to do, while also answering the questions that many people have when they discover that you're not an average sized family!

"Larger Family Life", the book, is being rolled out worldwide over the coming weeks and within the next couple of months will be available on Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com and other online retailers as well as all brick and mortar bookstores for the list price of £10.99.  (If you don't see it in stock at your bookstore or library please do ask them to stock it by quoting the ISBN 978-1-4478-1320-0).

However, it is available now for immediate purchase through Lulu.com, with the Larger Family Life paperback version at a special discounted price of £7.69 or as a download for £4.79.  Larger Family Life is also available on Kindle both at Amazon.co.uk and at Amazon.com.

To celebrate I am going to give a copy of the book, Larger Family Life - Living life the large family way, to one lucky winner.

What I ask is that you write a post on your blog about the book and link back to this post. I'd like to know why you'd like to read it too.  Leave a comment below linking to your post.  That is one entry.

For extra entries you can become a Twitter follower or a Facebook friend (and leave a comment to say you're following or that you already do), plus you can gain an extra entry when you  leave a comment below for every time you tweet about this post or spread the word on Facebook (and linked back to this post).  Leave a link to your Twitter/Facebook mention.  They constitute another separate entry each (one comment to be left below per entry method).

This giveaway will close on Monday, 29th August at 5am, GMT.

Here is an extra chance to win for those of you who just can't wait to read it.

If you are keen to buy the book you can go ahead and buy it and when you've read it, write a review over on Lulu.  Leave a comment below to say you have done so and link to your review.  If you are picked as the winner I will reimburse you the cost of the book.  Because this will take some time for you to purchase and read the book, I'll pick one book reviewer as the winner on Friday, September 9th.

I am aware that some people are having difficulty leaving comments using Blogger.  If you cannot submit your comment please email it to me at family@largerfamilylife.com and I'll comment on your behalf. 



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Look at what I have here...

If you are already a Larger Family Life Facebook friend you'll have seen it already.  If not, I wouldn't want to leave you out...

 More details to come later this week!



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Our book on large family life is almost finished - whoo-hoo!

As you might know I have spent a fair amount of time recently trying to put together the Larger Family Life book. I am now at the point where I see the end in sight and my fingers will be taking a holiday from all the typing they've been doing.

The book will cover a range of information. We'll be covering everything from how we ended up with a large family and the reasons behind it to answering the most commonly asked questions we get. We will also be sharing some tips and tricks we've learned along the way. If there is anything in particular you would like to ask or to be included this is your very last chance to get it in! Leave a comment or email me at family (at) largerfamilylife (dot) com

What I would like to ask you out there with large families yourselves is what large family websites or resources have you found informative or invaluable? It doesn't matter what country you are in, I would like to try to build up a list of international resources for large families around the world for inclusion into the book. Again, please leave a comment or email me at family (at) largerfamilylife (dot) com. You can also leave a message on my Facebook wall or tweet me with my Twitter handle @largerfamily.

Thank you all for your help and support!


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Larger Family Life is also available on Kindle!