Halloween 2015

I did manage to make Halloween fun despite my lack of creativity.  Here are the photos to prove it.

This year we were so busy that we didn't carve our pumpkins until Halloween Day! It was actually really fun to do them on Halloween. Grayson, Landon, and Jared did most of the work. Ethan was too busy keeping his nose in a book.

We did decorate inside with paper decorations that we've made over the years.  I definitely need to get some outside decorations for next year.  We really were not keeping up with our fun neighbors this year.  Aunt Teresa did make me this beautiful fall wreath. Which, weirdly, makes me feel like I've got it all together.  

Trick or Treat! 

We took Batman, Minnie Mouse, The Great Pumpkin, Ninjago, and a Stormtrooper out trick or treating.  My parents were actually here for the day and we loved having them with us this  year. Our new neighborhood is all about Halloween and the children really made out in the candy department.

The Great Pumpkin fell asleep due to all the excitement. A little sad that he's my last little pumpkin.  

It's Great to be Eight-Ethan

Our oldest baby has turned 8! Ethan kept telling me all day that he couldn't "believe he is 8!" Well, I can't believe it either. 8 years ago, we welcomed our first child to our family 3 weeks before his due date. It was exciting and scary and wonderful and scary and beautiful and scary! 8 years later he is still helping us figure out this whole parenting gig. We are so proud of the young man he is becoming and feel blessed to be his parents. Ethan is a kind, generous, thoughtful, helpful, intelligent, funny, caring boy. It has been an honor and delight to help him learn and grow. Excited to think what the next 8 years will bring.

A little blurry, but here he is being welcomed into Troop 70 of the Cub Scouts! He has already read the entire manual. I'd say he's excited.

We took a cupcake to lunch at the school and enjoyed some family time. Landon makes the craziest faces.  Ethan's siblings sure do love him and look up to him. He's a great big brother.

After school, Aunt Stacey and Owen had dinner and cake with us. The following day we enjoyed the last soccer game of the season. Ethan had a great season and is really turning into a fantastic soccer player.

5 Kids is A LOT!

I think I might just throw in the towel some days if I didn't feel 100% positive that having five children is my calling in life. Some days I excel and Jared and I high five at how awesome we are. Other days I want to hide in the closet and pretend Mary Poppins is downstairs caring for my children.
Today was one of those days that reinforced the fact that 5 KIDS IS A LOT of KIDS! It wasn't bad, it was just insane. I am so glad this isn't a typical day and that tomorrow, I just have to fold those 7 loads of laundry I managed to wash today.  Take a look at a day in the life.

5:30: Alarm goes off for scheduled "Me" time and exercise. I find 2 year old in my bed and fear that getting out of bed will wake her, so I lay there for an hour trying to decide how to get out stealthily. I ultimately give up.
6:30-7:15: 5 year old comes in whining that his breakfast isn't ready. Since I literally slept in my clothes from the day before, I roll out of bed and head downstairs. Make lunches, make breakfast, eat breakfast, read scriptures, say family prayer, kiss 7 year old and 5 year old goodbye.
7:30: Nurse 6 month old while Dad takes everyone for a walk to see school kids off at the bus stop.
8:00: Rejoice that Dad is working from home on his late shift, so I squeeze in exercise and a shower!
9:30-11:30: Put baby down for a nap. Jared starts work and I build a city with Landon and Miriam. Proceed to attend to other "Mom" duties: snack getting, booty wiping, nose wiping, treat making for neighbors, lunch making, laundry,etc.
11:30: Nurse 6 month old while 4 year old and 2 year old play.
12:00: Allow children to entertain themselves while I make lunch for self and Jared.
2:00: Actually eat lunch I made and wonder what happened to the last 2 hours
2:30: Nurse 6 month old and put him down for nap #2. Walk to bus stop with 4 year old and 2 year old to pick up 5 year old and 7 year old.
3:00: Homework, agenda signing, talking about the day, etc.
4:00: Wake baby, load car with all 5 kids, head to friend's birthday party at the park.
4:30: Birthday party shenanigans. Children have a blast and get dirty and eat junk food. 2 year old poops her pants, clean her up with extra clothing I was awesome enough to bring. More birthday party shenanigans. Feed baby squash and change his diaper. Bump his head on hard park bench while changing diaper and spend 5 minutes getting him to stop freaking out. 2 year old wets her pants and proceeds to disrobe in middle of the park. Change her clothes again, except this time I only have extra undies. Pants and shoes/socks are ruined. Hurry everyone into car.
6:30: Once in car, head to church for 7 year old's first night as a Cub Scout.  It is a Pack Meeting so I am obligated to stay. (Apparently, pack meetings are family affairs.) Call Jared and ask him to bring extra clothes and shoes for 2 year old.  On the way to the church, 2 year old wets her pants again. Extra bonus: Car seat is now filled with urine and it's on my shirt because I didn't know she was wet and I picked her up to take her in the church (remember she has no shoes). How much did she drink at that dagum party?!
7:00: Meet Jared at the church (he has his Boy Scout obligation at the same time, so I'm still ALONE with everyone and they are hopped up on goodie bag candies and junk food). He brings clothes, but forgets shoes. Head inside looking like white trash. Finally go to the bathroom.  Enjoy Pack Meeting and that smile on my 7 year old's face is priceless when he is officially welcomed as a Scout. Calm a fussy, tired 6 month old for 45 minutes. Keep pulling up my pants because they are too big, which is AWESOME.
8:15: Get the heck out of there and head home.  Enjoy beautiful, nearly full moon on the drive home. 7 year old totally steps up and helps all the others get showered, dressed and teeth brushed while I nurse 6 month old and put him to bed.  7 year old even reads the younger children a story. As I finish nursing 6 month old, hear Jared enter house and tuck everyone in. Lay baby down and tuck everyone in. Start laundry to wash all the urine soaked clothing and car seat.
9:00: Write blog post and eat dinner. Bedtime is on the horizon. And, I am soooooooooo happy I made tapioca pudding last night, because I plan to eat 2 servings! And, I only hollered twice!

6 Months

Weston is six months and I am loving this stage!  He is so alert and excited about his surroundings. He has started eating yummy foods and really loves squash, apples, and bananas.  He is also sleeping through the night (except for the last two nights when we were at Papa and Gigi's). We moved into 12 month clothing last week!

At his 6 month wellness check he weighed in at 20 pounds 12 oz and was 27 3/4 inches long. He's no longer gaining weight rapidly, but he continues to be at the top of the growth chart. I've decided to allow myself to rejoice that he doesn't have blue eyes. My other four have blue eyes like Jared and they are gorgeous. I have nothing against blue eyes. I was just feeling left out and tired of my kids trying to make me feel better by telling me the dog has brown eyes. Weston's aren't a true brown. They're more of a hazel and I LOVE them! I love how he smiles with his eyes and eyebrows. It's the best!

Weston can roll over, but hasn't decided he wants to be a mobile baby. He much prefers having mommy hold him and I am happy to oblige because he's our last baby. Although, at nearly 21 pounds, I do get wiped out pretty fast. I usually wrap him up and wear him, but his weight is too much for my stretchy wrap. Time to buy a woven wrap. I am also happy to say I only need to lose 10 more of my pounds to get back into my pre-pregnancy clothes. Woot Woot!

Pumpkin Patch

I may HATE Halloween, but I LOVE our annual trip to the pumpkin patch.The kids run around in pure joy and cater to me for my need of cute pictures. Cuteness overload last night, as always.

Just a little sad because Weston will be the last baby to wear this little pumpkin costume. Very happy that it fit him. He is the largest and youngest to wear it. Also very proud that I dressed every baby as a pumpkin for their first Halloween. :)

YOU ARE ENOUGH

The post-baby blues hit me harder than ever before following the birth of my fifth baby.  I'd always been a little emotional following a baby's birth, but this time it has been really difficult. Moving to a new town probably exacerbated things. I feel like I am finally starting to come out of the fog, but there are days I still struggle with feelings of inadequacy and a general sense of overwhelmed-ness.
I feel so blessed that I have such wonderful family and friends that encourage me, support me, and listen to me. I am also grateful for being able to hear inspired words that lift me up and remind me that I am enough.
Two weeks ago in the General Conference held by the LDS Church (Mormons), one of the leaders said this...

He's a pretty smart guy, because he also said this on another occasion. 

It is so true. I have been trying everything I can think of to get my groove back: prayer, meditation, exercise, doing things I enjoy, etc, etc.. It doesn't feel like it is working.  But this reminded me that it is working and I must remain patient.  

And yesterday, I was watching a video interview from The Mom Conference (which has been awesome).  The guest speaker, Dr. Laura Markham (www.ahaparenting.com), was discussing the importance of self-care and utilizing mantras. She encourages moms (and dads) to do three things. 1. Practice (Exercise, prayer, meditation, etc); 2. Self-love (more on this below); and 3. Create a Joy-List (A list that has several items that bring you joy and can be done in 5 minutes or less when you're feeling particularly crummy.)

Let's go back to self-love. If you're a "recovering perfectionist" like me, she says we can really struggle when things don't go the way we planned or envisioned.  This really hit me because I felt like she was talking about me! I have learned to fly by the seat of my pants and go with the flow after having so many children and working as a professional social worker.  But, post-baby, everything I'd learned in the last 10 years had flown out the proverbial window.  Lately, if anything unexpected comes up, I become a complete wreck. Dr. Markham  recommends acknowledging yourself at the end of each day by identifying all the positive things you did that day. She also said to repeat this mantra, "I am more than enough." 

I am so grateful that in two weeks time, I have been sent these messages of self-love. I have been really mean to myself and it has made me unhappy and hard to be around (my poor family).  Today I have been walking with my head a little higher and my heart a little lighter.

I want to let my five readers know that you, too, are "more than enough"!

Baby Devin!

Some of you have met Brad and Rachel via my blog before. They really have become some of our closest friends.  They're really more like family to us. We are so happy they moved BACK to Florida! They say it was for work, but I know it was really because of us. Wink, wink.  Brad and Rachel had some difficulty having a baby, but through prayer, patience, and perseverance, they were blessed with a baby boy.  And we had the privilege of being his first visitors!

Grayson had an appointment in Orlando, so we decided to stop by Winnie Palmer Hospital to see how Rachel was doing after we finished. Her water broke in the wee hours of Monday morning and her doctor sent her to the hospital later that morning. By the time we arrived to visit on Tuesday night, she had been there nearly 36 hours! What a trooper! We had been visiting about 20 minutes when the midwife came to check on Rachel. Rachel had been concerned about pressure and she was right, baby was ready to come. Since we were there and I hate to miss things, especially things that happen to one of my dearest friends, we decided to stay!

Goofing off in the lobby while we waited!

I swear she must have had that baby on our way to the lobby, because within 30 minutes we got the go ahead to come on back and meet Devin. I have to tell you, it was pretty amazing to meet a baby after he'd been in the world for only 30 minutes! So happy for Brad and Rachel. Grayson loved that he got to be there too. He is my child that absolutely adores babies, so I'm glad he was with me. Also, I know Jared and I are done having babies, but I gotta tell you.  Seeing that new baby made my heart ache a little. I guess it might just always be there way for me. 

(Rachel, don't be mad I put up this photo.  It is amazing, but if you really object let me know and I'll remove it.)

My other children were jealous, so we drove back to Orlando the very next day for everyone to meet baby Devin. My family really felt like a circus when we were all crammed into that tiny hospital room. Thanks for putting up with us!

Inspecting Devin.

Snuggles from Andrea.

We'll have to visit again soon, Brad and Rachel. Grayson said he was too shy to hold Devin and now he's ready. Maybe we should have the children visit in shifts so as not to make your life too crazy.