You know...

...I have five kids.  Apparently I have been saying this to my mom a lot lately and it is starting to annoy her.  Nonetheless, I am here to say that five kids is a lot.  It just is.  Going from three to four was not a big deal. Going from four to five?  A BIG deal. A BIG HAIRY deal.  If you have more than that (and I have a few friends who do and they are amazing and since we added number five to our crew, I think they are even more amazing than I did before), you probably laugh at me the way I do at people who complain about their piddly three kids (and I am someone who once had a piddly three kids and thought THAT was a lot, too.)  Heck, I remember thinking that one was a lot after Jack was born and he had the audacity to keep me up all.night.long one night.  My point in yammering on is that I have "limitations" now that perhaps I didn't have before and trying to explain them to my mother, the empty nester, just doesn't seem to register.  Sometimes there really isn't any time left to watch the Republican National Convention and that does not mean that I don't care about my country! But I digress...

We have an age span of one year old up to 13 years old and we are facing issues that range from the timing of a fantasy football draft to keeping a certain little one out of the toilet to scheduling doctor's appointments to making sure haircuts are obtained before school pictures.  Someone always needs something.  While that can be incredibly exhausting, it also means that boredom is almost never an issue (for me at least.)  There is always something that needs to be done.  Sometimes, though, this mama just needs some space and my bedroom is my hideout.  It is not unusual for me to sneak up the stairs after dinner for a bit of peace and quiet.  There is also a stash of chocolate up there for those times when I am really feeling desperate (and judging from the size of my thighs, I think I've been very desperate lately.)  I am thankful that my husband gets it and does not make me feel guilty for my little escapes.

In spite of the challenges and the exhaustion, though, I wouldn't trade what we have for anything.  I am thankful for each of the children that God has sent our way.  Though number five has tipped the exhaustion scale, I can't imagine her not being here.  That little peanut melts this mama's heart!  When I feed her a bottle, she rubs her hand on my back.  When she wakes up from her nap, she smiles and climbs into my arms for a long snuggle.  She is free with kisses and hugs and I lu yous!  She has been trying so hard to talk, but the words aren't coming as fast as she would like.  I have a feeling that when she masters language, she is going to have a whole lot to tell us!!  As hard as it is on some days to keep her out of trouble, at the end of the day when I am tucking her into bed, I am reminded that all too soon she is going to be doing her own thing and won't have time to be snuggling her mama.  Time just seems to slip by, so I am really trying to enjoy the sweetness of this age with my baby girl.  What a gift she is.

This was taken 7 months ago on the day after we met Addie.  What a sweet, snuggly bundle of love!