.....from the edge of six-kids-under-nine-and-craziness-central....

Wow. Almost half a year since my last post!

Fair enough to say I've been busy. Really, really busy.

Our baby boy, Luke, was born on October 29th and things have been wonderfully crazy since then....

....he was born on the side of the road at 9pm at night - a very wild and crazy beginning to yet another season in our adventure.

It hasn't been easy by any stretch. But God's been faithful and Ben and I have survived having six children under 9 so far. Just. Our evenings usually consist of me falling into bed (and sometimes being put into bed - no exaggeration) and trying desperately to keep my eyes open in the darkness while my dear husband talks to me about important things like bills that require attention, the behaviour of our children, where our next holiday will be, what's for dinner tomorrow night and the 'plan' for the next day.

Sometimes we manage to grab half-an-hour to ourselves to catch up. Or a quiet lunch with children resting or at school. It's been hard but not destructive.

Things I'd forgotten about having a newborn:
-Sore backside from sitting feeding most of the day
-Increased arm strength from holding a newborn, toddler and story book while cuddling a pre-schooler beside you on the couch
-Fatigue so heavy that your eyes burn
-Nappies that you can actually class as 'pleasant' after toddler nappies
-Toilet training a toddler while breastfeeding a newborn, not a fun combination!
-Shouting at your children to do something while you're feeding the baby, but giving up because they can't hear you and don't want to do it anyway
-Cooking dinner being the major achievement of the day. If you can feed your children dinner and not seriously injure yourself or end up plonked in the filthy corner on the floor in tears because you can't put the baby down to open a jar of pasta sauce, it's an achievement.
-Silence is precious and that little mewling newborn cry is such a powerful source of that rock-in-pit-of-stomach feeling
-Feeling depressed, trashed, worried, stressed and totally crap while hobbling up the hallway stepping on toys and toothbrushes (don't ask!) on the way to pick him up, but then the baby smiles at you and suddenly you feel happy and want to cry because it's the most precious thing you've ever had
-Soft newborn skin. Enough said!

Having six children (and one in heaven) is by far and away the best and hardest thing I've ever done and am doing!

Hence the lack of blogging lately.

But I'm hoping to do more soon. Just as soon as I get more zzzzzzzzzz.......

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