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Newest Arrival

My list of 'to-do's' is a mile long and I can think of a hundred reasons I should not be sitting here writing, but I don't care.

The long stretch of pregnancy is finally over. Baby boy joined the girl tribe nearly three weeks ago, and it has been such a blessing. My pregnancy was not an enjoyable one at all, so when he arrived nine days before my due date, I was a bit surprised, but purely delighted.

My three previous kiddos came within two days of their due date, but I kept telling my husband I didn't think I would make it to my due date with baby number four. Even with that intuition, I wasn't as prepared as I should have been. When we got home from the hospital I had lots of newborn clothes to wash and I had to dig the bassinet out of the basement and clean it up.

Here's the great thing about having multiple children; you no longer sweat the small stuff.

Have you ever seen that mom with a ton of kids and you wonder how she does it, and how she remains so calm? It's because she has given up on the stuff that doesn't matter. My girlfriend (who also has a bunch of kids) and I were discussing this not long ago, and we're not sure whether it's just laziness or if we're just rocking this motherhood thing, but there are so many things we have let go of. We decided to pretend we are rocking it.

So little man came home to a house that was only half prepared for his arrival and he could not have cared less. He has been thrown into our own brand of crazy that involves a lot of love from his big sisters, and a lot more running than I ever did with the others as newborns.

When you have more than one child, it's a physical fact that you will not have as much time for the newborn as you did with your first one. Thats ok. You love them just as much, you just love them a little harder when you do get quiet time with them.

I always struggled with nursing the girls, but whether its the fact that my body is finally coming around, or the fact that he just has things figured out, little man is nursing like crazy.  So I spend a lot of time on the couch nursing him and although it's been difficult, I have explained to the girls that I cannot be up taking care of them at those times. They are on their own for what they want, or they will have to wait. Is it easy, especially with a VERY rambunctious toddler in the house? No. But I want little man to know that he has my attention too.

So I read books to the girls, I turn on cartoons, and when they push my buttons I yell at them from the couch (I'm not proud, but it's true). My life is crazy right now, but I know it won't last. In the grand scheme of things, this will be a very short period. So I let it slide.

I let the fact that the baby needs another bath get pushed back another night, because really how dirty can he be? I let the toddler eat an orange popsicle for breakfast, because I am not going to get up with a baby stuck to my boob to wrestle it out of her death grip. I let the big girls lay next to me and watch cartoons for longer than necessary, because the quiet is soooo nice.

This phase of life will be gone before I know it. That's life. It is the wonderful, messy, full life that I use to dream of. It looks nothing like my dreams mind you, but I know in my soul that this is the life I prayed for. This one life, filled to the brim with happiness and pain, crazy and calm, it is mine. And I kind of like it.


Have a wonderful weekend!! (And don't sweat the small stuff ;)

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