Greetings, everybody! My name is Ingrid Gorman. I am the eldest child of a VERY Godly family, the Snyders. My parents are Luther and Katlyn. You’ve probably heard of them...my precious Daddy is the pastor who was sent to plant a church in Mount Korembi. It was the FIRST Baptist Church in town. He called it Bible Baptist Church!

Below is a picture of Daddy with my precious Mama during their most recent maternity shoot. My Mama is expecting the SWEETEST ninth blessing and we are OVERJOYED. Many people ask me if being part of a big family gets old...my answer is absolutely not! My parents taught us to have a joyful countenance at all times and that children are a blessing from above!! I know they are right and I am so grateful that they have shown me the way!

My hubby and I met at Daddy’s church. Stetson’s parents, Brice and Geraldine, are WONDERFUL. They’re from Windenburg, but joined my Daddy’s congregation because the church there was just TOO lukewarm for them! The pastor was even allowing his daughter to date! I am so grateful to have such PRECIOUS in-laws that are so convicted in their beliefs.

Here is a photograph from when Stetson and I started courting. I am so THRILLED that my sweet Mama captured the mood on that PERFECT day! It is a memory we will cherish FOREVER. My father-in-law is in the middle and my Daddy is just behind me!!! Thank goodness for chaperones that keep us accountable!!! We didn’t even hold hands until we were engaged. That’s what Mama calls having standards...they’ve been forgotten by many these days!

Below is my favorite picture of our wedding day!! We saved our very FIRST kiss for the altar. How many people can say that?!?

Here are some more lovely wedding portraits of Stetson and I. The third picture down is a funny shot that the photographer got of my parents after the ceremony had ended! Isn’t it precious?! Mama and I laughed and laughed at that! And aren’t my dress and gloves just so WONDERFUL? It is SO hard to find modest clothes these days. I am so fortunate that my Mama hunted around with me to find the perfect look!

It’s been six months since our wedding...which was also the same day as my 20th birthday. Stetson is 26, praise God! A young woman needs a man who can LEAD her by experience. I have heard about so many wayward women of the world who have wasted their prime years going to college...which they finish at 22, AFTER the best time to first become a mother. Beginning a family young is the ONLY way to holiness. Thank goodness our parents were never led astray.

Also...look at this hilarious photo of me and my hubby! Aren’t we just so random?! We love joking around SO much now that we are married! I never knew how funny he was before.

So why start this blog now? Well...we have a little one on the way! Our precious little Ezekiel Luther is due nine months after our wedding night...to the day!! I am so grateful that we were blessed with such a PRECIOUS blessing so quickly. Praise be to the Lord from whom all blessings flow! I know He has favored us and that we are not worthy of Him.

I am so EXCITED for you to accompany on this journey. We pray we inspire you to live a life that is righteous and holy! The fruits of GODLY marriage are too great of a gift not to share. 

I recently gave birth to Candace Love Fleming, right on schedule! I chose a natural hospital birth this time around due to her being my sixteenth baby. Everything went off without a hitch!

Some of my littles are still adjusting to being big siblings. Cecilia is about to turn five years old, and she already has three younger siblings, can you believe that?! Still, cultivating a joyful heart can be a challenge for some littles.

Luckily, I have my older kids to be great examples...

And a sweet hug from Mama now and then doesn’t hurt :) 

Recently, our precious Claire aged up to being a young adult. It’s so hard to believe that she is all grown up!

Claire shocked both Jon Edwards and I when she told us she wants to attend college to study culinary arts. She found a very Godly college with an emphasis on homemaking, but we were both hesitant. It took a great deal of praying before we decided to permit this. AN: Patience and Jon Edwards were actually horrified by this development! They’ve been so absorbed with having new babies that they failed to see how burnt out Claire has become as she raises her own siblings. They assumed she would want to get married soon, living close by so that she could still help out Patience with the younger kids. When they realized that Claire had found--and been accepted by--a college that she liked, they were so afraid of her defiance that they let her go! Go, Claire!

In other news, many of you know that we are expecting blessing #17. He is due just 18 months after Candace Love. Even more amazingly, he is due a whole two months before our first GRANDBABY!!! That’s right, Jon Edward and I are officially grandparents!!!! We are overjoyed beyond measure. Little Addisyn Marie Gorman will join a trove of adoring aunts and uncles! We give thanks every day for this little blessing ever since we found out about her.

Carly has been such a help to me around the house since I am expecting. She loves cooking the family Franks and Beans recipe that we have passed down for generations!

The little ones look up to Carly so much. She is a true example of what a Godly woman should be!

Claire is settling into college life and is learning so much about loving the Lord and keeping a good home. We can’t wait to see her over Christmas break!

Please pray for a healthy and safe delivery for baby #17!

Lately, a lot of people have been asking us how we dress our little ones in a way that honors the Lord, particularly our girls. I know a commitment to modesty was hugely important to my parents when I was growing up, and Jon and I have raised our children with the same convictions. Modesty can be simple for boys--shorts always go at least to the top of the knee, no tank tops, and boys must always wear t-shirts with their swim trunks. Girls have many more fashions available, which can make things more tricky, so I decided to share a modesty guide with our followers! We are so excited to invite you into our closets and our hearts!

First, I’ll start with my younger daughter, Carly. Carly is only a toddler, and any attempts at “modesty” now aren’t done for the sake of actual modesty, but for practicing later on. Our girls will get accustomed to longer skirts and sleeves from a young age.

Carly in a typical play outfit. Note the fun leggings!

Carly in a “party” outfit. Our older girls wear skirts at least to the knee, but we are not so strict when our children are in their pre-school days.

Carly in another play outfit!

Carly’s “swim dress” 

Claire is a perfect model for feminine modesty. Our goal as a family is to draw the eye to our faces! Above, Claire models a swim dress. 

Claire in a formal dress for a wedding we attended last year!

Claire in an everyday, play outfit

Claire in a nicer everyday outfit that she might wear for homeschool or even church!

A winter outfit

Typically, we have our girls wear dresses alone. However, there are a small number of outdoor activities that require pants. Above is a good example of a “pants” outfit we may have our girls wear under special circumstances.

Howdy, readers! It’s hard to believe how quick things are moving around here! We’ve got birthdays, babies, and so much joy in this house! Aren’t we blessed?

Christian, our third baby, recently aged up. It’s so hard to believe that we now have three teenagers in this house! Send prayers, LOL!

Because our family has expanded a LOT recently (a set of triplets and a set of twins...we are so blessed!) we did some renovations, including a special toddler play area in our yard...

And a new living room to make room for everyone! What do you think?

Calder (#5) seems to love the new living room! He loves mechanical projects and such. He’s such a boy’s boy! Maybe he’ll be an engineer someday!

By the way, the twins recently aged up...and just in time, too, because I’m expecting again!! We are SO thrilled! We will be adding another member to the girls’ room in the fall! 

My hubby has been SO good to me throughout my pregnancy with baby #13. Now that I’m almost 36, pregnancies are getting a bit harder on me, but I have no greater joy in my life and I am so grateful that I get to be a Mama again!

He took me out to dinner recently. We had some yummy rootbeer floats, too! We do not consume alcohol, but ice cream is definitely okay :) 

Meanwhile, my babies have been so good. Carly recently designed and sewed a brand-new modest dress for herself. She is such a little lady!

Cooper and Calder had a mud fight on a recent rainy day. I couldn’t bear to scold them! Boys will be boys!

Sweet Carly has really been flourishing lately. Not only does she have a deep conviction for modesty and a love of fashion, she is also blossoming into a real musician!

I love hearing the lovely strains of her music straining through the house!

Meanwhile, as our kids have gotten older, we’ve had to put a strict curfew in place. Parents, don’t let worldliness dissuade you from setting boundaries with your kids! Allowing them to stay out late is just asking them to fall in with the wrong crowd and go astray! This is one reason we are so grateful for homeschooling. It keeps our kids away from activities or other silliness that might go late into the night.

Everything is going well around here! We are so grateful for each other and for our loving family. What a happy home we have!

Well, diary, I guess this was inevitable. It happened...we got caught.

We’ve never done any more than kiss, but for us that’s as bad as anything. Our parents see this as being as bad as having sex before marriage, especially mine.

That’s right, Mrs. Gertrude walked in on me and Auggie kissing. This wasn’t the first time we did this...or the second. I think we both knew this would happen eventually. So why did we do it? 

I don’t know. I don’t regret it, though.

Mrs. Gertrude was pretty mad. She yelled and yelled at Auggie. But as scary as that was, I knew whatever my Mom came up with would be worse...MUCH worse.

Mrs. Gertrude called my Mom the next night.

One of my sisters told me that she was in disbelief at first and refused to accept that I broke one of her rules.

THEN she got angry. Really angry. She started screaming at everybody, except Mrs. Gertrude. I didn’t get to hear any of this, because she won’t speak to me. Oh well.

Within a week, Auggie and I were engaged. Yup, engaged at 17. This my Mom’s perfect Quiverfull dream. It’s probably the only time she’s ever been jealous of me. 

I don’t know what to think about being engaged. I love Auggie and know he’s a good man. I think we will be happy together because he actually listens to me, and I know he cares about my music. Plus, I’m turning 18 in a couple of months, which means my parents were planning to marry me off in a couple of years anyway. At least I’ve ended up with a guy who has a career. We won’t have to make our kids sleep in a renovated barn.

Well, Diary, we got married. It was a beautiful day, and I’m so happy that I never have to go back to my parents’ home again. I wasn’t quite 18 when we got married...just a couple of weeks away.

As you can see, I wore my sister Hope’s dress...without the modesty panel my Mom made her wear. My Mom was really angry, but I knew she couldn’t stop me. I didn’t realize until now how much my parents depended on my obedience. If I just do what I want, there’s not a lot they can do. Better I wear an immodest dress than refuse to get married...at least for them.

I never realized how much I loved Auggie until we got married. He told me his new job is making sure I’m happy, and that we don’t need to rush into having kids...or have kids at all. He told me he loves that I love piano and he wants me to use the musical gifts that God gave me. I know being a teenage bride wasn’t my goal for my life...but I feel pretty lucky that I ended up with this guy.

We both have mixed feelings about marrying so young. We love each other so much, but we don’t want to start a trend for our younger siblings. But I think waiting to get pregnant and having careers could also be good examples for them.

I had a lot of fun posing for wedding pictures. My parents were there and they weren’t very happy, but I didn’t mind at all. Gertrude and Vince actually seemed pretty happy for us, and I appreciated that. I don’t think they’re quite as rigid as my parents.

Notice my parents smirking from the side! Haha!

It’s nice we can kiss without fear of punishment now. 

This picture is probably my favorite. 

I know for a fact my parents only let my sisters be bridesmaids because they wanted them to get pictures with the Carmellos. And my parents are hoping that Cam and Giada will fall in love! But there’s no way Cam is getting married so soon. I laughed and laughed with Giada about their plans, and Cam laughed, too!

Recently, our family was blessed to have a large protest for the Foundation for Less Mischief on behalf of my wonderful hubby, Jon Edwards. After, we took the chance to capture some precious family photos. After all, our family seems to be growing every day!

We are all truly so blessed to have such a wonderful husband and Daddy! Jon is such a blessing!

Aren’t my babies the sweetest?!

Meanwhile, things at home have been calm and happy. Calder is up to his usual mechanical projects.

Cooper is very interested in chess and logic. I don’t understand how that whole game works, but Jon loves to watch! He has such a great, logical brain! Cooper must have gotten it from him. 

Soon before I went into labor, Claire and I spent some time playing and training with some of the littles.

I soon felt labor pangs!

I had a fast and normal delivery at the hospital, and soon enough our newest, WONDERFUL blessing Cecilia May was born! She’s gorgeous and has fine blonde hair just like mine!

Also, just a few days before Cecilia was born, the triplets aged up. It’s so hard to believe that Caraline, Camilla, and Cathryn are big girls now!

I love all my children so much and I am grateful for their joyful hearts! We are blessed. 

Author’s Note: Notice the contrast here between Ingrid’s coverage of her own vow renewal and Isaiah’s wedding! 

Isaiah is one of Ingrid’s “Lost” children. She doesn’t notice him (or #6, John Brice, or #8, Helen Praise, along with several others), very much because they stand out less to her. Katlynn is her loyal helper who stokes her ego, Ezekiel is her first born, Hope is her “rebellious” first daughter...you get the idea. Evangeline and Camden are also pretty important since they are Ingrid’s only twins. She also favors Patience Grace (#9), who reminds Ingrid of herself the most.

Isaiah is DONE with his family and their crazy drama, especially after his Mom left his uncle’s church over a scuffle about whether married women should wear pants. He met Chloe at the new church and decided to move things along right away. Poor Chloe was 23 and unmarried and already considered an old maid in fundieland, so she couldn’t have been happier than to have such a quick courtship that led to marriage.

Despite their respective failures to have a perfect quiverfull experience, these two are still quite fundamentalist. Chloe loves the idea of being a Mega Mom, and I expect they’ll have 11(ish) kids...maybe more. 

AN: I’m back! Between living a couple of miles away from the recent attempted coup on the Capitol and figuring out my schedule for this coming term, I’ve gotten behind on posting here, but I’m so excited to start up again! 

Thanks so much for all of the wonderful other Simmers who have been commenting on my posts and sharing their stories. It’s been so fun to read, and has helped me relieve stress as the world burns...