1....2....3!!

My chickie is 3 months old.
Time is zooming!!!

5 kids in the past 6 years and no breaks!

Gosh...it's crazy.  But the fun kind of crazy. 
Fun, mixed with exhaustion, discipline and diapers...
but so much love.
God has been so extraordinarily good to us.

I've started running (I know, blech!)...and when I find myself hating it, I start to think of the blessings that I have. 
First I start off with the obvious - I have legs that work that are pushing me forward.  Some people don't even have the use of their legs! 
Sometimes we take for granted walking, eh?
That usually gets the ball rolling.
I actually thanked God the other day for the baby weight.  *gasp!!*
...hear me out - I thank Him because it reminds me how special my babies are. 
And though Cale is six, and some might not call that a "baby" - he still is. :)
They all are.
Some people can't have children and some won't experience the joys of adoption...but I have and do!

My littlest miracle is just that. 
Never thought we'd be able to have kids "the old fashioned way" - but God never ceases to surprise, eh?
Neve is pure joy!
Happiest baby on the block, says Daddy.
Yes, she does get fussy at night - particularly around the 10pm hour- but it's not always, and it's less often than it was.
She's on a good (enough) schedule - and even when she doesn't nap like we want her to, it's alright...because she's happy. 
She's started cooing last month, and this month has brought on the interactive a-goo-ing.  It's so cute, and she's suuuuper expressive about it...the eyebrows go up, and her teeny lips push forward as she flirts with Tim, the boys or I.  Or that little bear on her bouncer.  She loves that bear.
And I get such a kick out of watching her 'talk' to it. :)
The boys adore her.  They can correctly pronounce her name now.  Before it was Neb or Nef, but the twins can say the 'v' which I'm pretty impressed by!  They are always asking me to put bows on her so they can say "she's pretty." 
Megersa requests on a regular basis if he can hold her and have his picture taken.  The twins pile themselves on her to give her hugs, and Cale loves to get her smiling and cooing.
I got a few full-on laughs the other night, but I cannot wait for it to be a more regular thing! 
Her communication is apprecation, right? ;)  One of my favorite things about babies is when they recognize their parents. 
And Neve loves me! :)  I think it's cuz I know exactly what she needs with merely a sigh on her part - she's tired.  Or chewing on her fist - she has a burp she can't get out.... 
Mommy knows....
 
There are some things that Babs does not like.  She is not a fan of the car seat.  If she's tired enough she'll fall asleep in it...but doesn't stay asleep, and doesn't like to be in it for long.  .....no long car trips in the near future if I have anything to say about it....yikes!!
Neve doesn't like to be hit (understandable) or scared (though that isn't that often).  She spits up all the time and needs a good 30 minutes to be upright after eating (even then sometimes she still struggles with having a burp).  And boy does she burp!  I assume she gets that from me.  My burps erupt out of nowhere! 
Very ladylike; we know. ;)
She still makes a spectacle out of herself when she poops too... It's grosse and funny all at once.
Mainly grosse - especially when she poops up the back, or front, or sides.
Size 1 diapers (at least this one brand we have) are getting a little snug.
Size 3 month clothing fits well if it's Carters brand.  She's not tiny sized like the twins or M were at 3 months, but certainly is not growing as fast as Cale was at this age.  (He was more elephant than baby ;))
Little Miss bears weight pretty darn well and can almost completely roll over from back to belly, with the exception of a stuck arm.  She has yet to go belly to back, but the girl is really close! 
She sleeps on her belly. 
Currently her schedule goes like this: cluster feeding from like 7-11 (usually 3 seperate nursings), then sleeps til about 6-7am.  Goes back to sleep after that until 10:30a.  Then eats, plays and goes down for a nap when the big guys do.  ...and a bunch more random naps thru the day.  Usually 1 solid, for around 2 hours ...but Im less scheduled with this teeny one.  Finally got the hang of "rolling with the punches" come #5.

With Tim letting me sleep in every day with her (yes, he is AWESOME...no, you can't have him!!), I won't complain much.  
Of course, the times where all 4 (or 5 when Cale's home) are awake - I feel like a chicken with my head cut off, wandering around in a mess - occasionally bumping into children to feed them, burp them, wipe them up...    Honestly, this morning I spent an entire 2 hours picking things up....and it looks no different......  But, I suppose if nothing else, we've managed to keep all 5 alive for 3 full months.  So that's an accomplisment! :) ...I digress.
But again, lets praise!
I'm praising the Lord for a house to live in. 
Tons and tons (too many in my opinion) of toys for them to play with. 
And coffee.
Yep, I suppose I'm a coffee drinker now.  Okay - it's half coffee, half cream/sugar.  I've got a major sweet tooth....but it's something to look forward to. ;)
The Lord is always good. 
And if NOTHING else was good in my life besides these things - Tim, Cale, Megersa, Thaddeus, Shepherd, Neve....I should be one of the happiest people alive.  

And that's the end...my 30 min is up!  Madam is awake.

he's funny too

All my boys are funny.  Usually they take turns saying "the dardest things."

Megersa's turn:

Tim: Hey Megersa, you're birthday is in like 5 months...what do you think you want to do?
M: I want to go to....THE JUNGLE!! 
(to be noted: Daddy's been pumping for a zoo visit... ;)

tattletailing is no fun for me to hear usually, but this one gave me a good chuckle:

M: (yelling) MOM!!! Thaddeus got a banana from the counter and he's eating it...
me: (feeding the baby) Okay. Thanks for letting me know.  It's alright.
M: (upset he didn't get his brother in trouble) ...yeah, but he threw the wrapper on the floor!!!
-get it?  the peel is the wrapper?!  I thought it was funny.......

apparently trying to get some attention he comes in the room where I'm feeding Neve:
1st.  Asks a question that he knows the answer to.
2nd.  Puts on a costume and starts dancing around.
3rd time:  with vocal chords warmed up, he belts out:  "WE WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS, WE WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!!"
in the middle of April, that last one got my attention and a good laugh on M's behalf. :)

lastly, just to show you that he most certainly is a 3 year old with all the random thoughts and ramblings of such here is my recent favorite:

M: Does baby Neve nap?
me:  Yes.  She naps a lot but not as long as you guys....
M: Oh. yeah everyone naps except Cale.  He doesn't nap anymore...only sometimes. me: Well cale is older...he's 6 and goes to school. they dont nap at school. when you go to school you wont nap either.
M: I can bring my bed to school!
me:  Where will you sleep when you get home?
M:  I'll bring it back.
me:  Thats a good idea but might be a lot of work...
M: ...yeah.  Hey mom?
me: yeah?
M:  When Santa comes at Christmas can I sit on his lap?
 

when you're right, you're right.

According to Sheppy, all said very emphatically:

1. Food is "pizza!"

2. Every kind of fruit is an "apple?!"

3. Anything liquid is "milk."

4. When asked his name, he will announce proudly that he is "Buppy."

and there's no telling him different. ;)

Just one of the many reasons that we love him!!

are we done yet?

...having kids I mean.

Did you squint your eyes to see that? 
It said something about us having kids...so I figured you would. ;)

Tim played a pretty funny April Fools joke on his parents.  Toward the end of the day, he causally sent a family-wide text which read:
"BABY #6 ON THE WAY!!"

It was a good one...because believe it they did. 
His siblings caught on pretty quickly after the initial WHAAAT?! by looking at the date on the calendar.
But his parents (and coincientally grandparents) were served a fake-out platter and chowed down!
After recieving the follow-up "April Fools!" text they called Tim up right away and tore into him with laughter and "oh no you didn'ts!" 
It was a good joke.

Seriously though...Neve is 2 months...we are crazy, but we are most certainly not THAT crazy!!!!

The joke, however, is a great segway into giving an answer to this question:
"Are you guys done having kids now?"

Everyone seems to want to know this....
Understandably so...I always ask people this.  I love to know the answer.  I always wonder HOW people "know."

...Is it a set number you were looking for? 
...A certain gender you were trying for then once you got it, that was it? 
...Some people say they "feel their family is complete."  Well, if I said that after each kid I'd never have the joy of the next one!  It's sorta odd for me to wrap my head around... 

But, here's my answer:

The short version: I don't know.
The long version: I don't know.

Maybe Yes and Maybe No.

Biologically, yes.  I'm getting rid of my maternity clothes and baby clothes that don't fit anyone anymore...
But adoption?
We just don't have a sure answer for that.
Yes we will always have a heart for adoption, but no, we aren't really sure if we will adopt again.
We're confident God will lead us in the right direction.
I can say that we've talked about possibly adopting an older child (younger than Neve though) many years down the road.  But we really aren't positive.  5 kids is a lot for us right now.... ;) 
If we did adopt another child, it would be another girl so Neve would have a sister and most likely from Ethiopia so Megersa would have someone who "matches" him. :)

But I don't know.
We don't know.
God knows.
And either way...we are happy. 

So....stop asking us...and ask YOURSELF this:
AM I DONE?!

"For every parent that says they have enough children there are hundreds of children that would say they dont have enough parents."
(-A quote from one of my adoptive mom friends.)

motivation

I know I have baby weight left to lose.

Tim and I recently joined weight watchers to shed those pounds we added during my pregnancy.

It's going well, I suppose.  Slow going as weight loss is, I'm still itching to feel like I may actually get into normal clothes soon...

Or just not to be so....soft. 

We recently got the Wii Fit and have been having a lot of fun with the little exercises they have on there and the fun games that appeal to kids (Cale LOVES it).   I am quite excellent at the hula hooping one. ;)

Even still, the road to getting back to where I was before I got pregnant with lil miss is gonna be a long one.  My husband is "holding my hand" but my kids?

Cale: Mom, you know, you're a little bit skinny...but because you just had a baby, you're a little bit big too.  Not really big, just not really skinny like me.

...not as gentle. ;)

let's not just blame the princess...

taking care of this lot would cause anyone to become a secret choc-o-holic. ;)

 

the king

King Cale is now 6.
SIX!!
Can I remember being pregnant with him?
Most definitely - he was my first and everything was so new...
Do I remember him as an infant or a toddler?
Absolutely.  He was top dog for 3 years before Megersa joined our family.
Recall life before him though?  ...Vaguely.

Cale had a fairytale day at school a week or two ago.  He dressed up as a dragon because his King costume had no crown.  When he came home and found out we DID have a king costume the crown didn't matter - he's been donning the masculine red fleece and purple velvet moo-moo and playing the "master" role proudly.

To be honest it comes naturally to him.  He loves to sit on top.  He likes his status as the oldest and the perks he gets from being the biggest and strongest...  Yes, he's a thoughtful kid and is quite sensitive to boot - but his life absolutely revolves around him.  And whether it's in that moment, or potential moments down the road, he needs to have something he deems worthy to do - and to my hair-pulling dismay, he seems to need to find someone guess what it is.
"What can I do now?"
Oy.  Buddy....your 2 year old brothers are always finding creative things to do. Not that I want my 6 year old dipping my cooking utensils in the toilet (...why is it always the toilet?!), but I want you to think outside the box.  Or even inside the box.  Play with one of the hundreds of toys we have all over the place that you trip over to ask me what to play with!

.....but I digress.  He's in a new era.  School age - his teacher is structuring his path for several hours a day and he follows suit quite nicely says she, so maybe he is checking out to see if I've formed a schedule for him after 6 years.  ....Nope. ;)

But I love that kid with as much love as a heart could hold.  When I get quiet time alone with him, my eyes are straining to focus on his features.  He's truly looking older.  And mature.  He's tall and lean and has these cute little boy muscles...when did those show up?!

He's loving game time - Mario, Mario, Mario is one of his #1 topics of conversation with anyone who will listen. ;)  But he's also trying his hand at playing board games.  ...not a big fan of losing, but I have yet to find anyone, besides his Pop-Pop, of any age who really likes to lose; or is gracious about it for that matter.... haha.

Gosh, I could gush about him for another hour, or I could try and decipher how to work around or through the challenges we face with him at his age...but I'll leave it where it is and close with just a quick little blog letter to him:

Cale Timothy,
My firstborn - the moment we found out we were expecting you - Daddy and I changed forever.  Your birth 6 years ago made us feel like a true family and our lives have never been the same.  I hope you never notice our parenting trial-and-error we practiced on you because we're realizing that after 4 more of your siblings come along - we'll never truly get it right.  You are a great big brother and a terrific son. Thank you for being such an awesome little boy.
Don't ever move away and give us lots and lots of grandkids in the future!!
Love, Mommy

2 months

You know - no one got me those month sticker things that seem to be so popular.  you know the ones that track your babies age every month for the first year?  I suppose I could have gotten them for myself but have never seen them at stores...

Oh well, none of the other kids had them, so like them, normal pics will have to do:

 

 

 

 

 

And a letter for my sweet baby girl:

Miss Neve Eloise,
You are a beauty and a treasure.  I hold you all the time and kiss your face often.  I enjoy our snuggle time, and even when it feels like my back will break, I am more than happy to wear you around in the sling so you can get a nap in.  Your father constantly is staring at you with a protective and proud love.  He especially loves the way your lips form a little triangle when you sleep.  He is always telling everyone that you are simply stunning, which even at your tender 9 weeks of life, is very very true! :)
At night you CAN go up to 8 hours without a feeding, but it's not always like that.  Some nights it's pretty challenging to get you to finally relax into a deep sleep...
Of course, my dear, you are worth it.  You are very easy-going and love to be held or looked at.  I give you a lot of credit my precious girl - your brothers have no idea how to be gentle, but you're taking it very well. :)  I know you'll be a strong lil thing and will soon be "accidentally" poking them in the eye too or trying to jam things up their noses.
At 2 months old you weigh 10 lbs, 9.5 oz.  Not as tiny as the twins or Megersa was, but a few pounds shy of where Cale was at this age.  You can track objects with your eyes and tend to be quite happy most of the time to recline in your bouncer and watch the goings on each day.  Yesterday I put you in your bumbo and was surprised to see that you could already sit in there quite sturdily.  You bear weight and can hold your head up for a good amount of time!  ...oh so talented, my pretty princess. ;)
We are absolutely in love with the fact that you smile and coo now.  I know you recognize me and Daddy - and you're gracious enough to give a smirk or two to other people when they look for it. :)
You're still in our room and will most likely be for some time still...we are currently trying to work out the best possible scenario for your brothers bunking up to give you access to your room.  I think we may just try putting them all together and just wearing earplugs. ;)  We'll see.  Regardless, sweet baby, you will not have to share.  You can have dollies and tea parties and pretend makeup...  But not yet. ;)
Try not to grow up too fast - time is already flying by.
We thank God for you, our little surprise miracle, and love you more than you could possibly ever know.
Love, Mommy

the mice will play...

...when the cat is nursing. (or just preoccupied with the new kitten...)

here's some fun activities my boys chosen to take part of when Mommy is feeding baby:

...getting a-hold of a container of vaseline to coat oneself and the bathroom floor, then trying to wash it off with toilet water.
...getting into the snack cabinet - eating various contents...dumping others.
...using peanut butter as paint.
...making a chalk mural on the garage wall.
...dumping a bottle of bleach all over the laundry room floor.
...dropping a new toilet paper roll in the potty to watch it swell.
...opening a new box of bandaids and q-tips then trailing them through the house Hansel-and-Gretel-style.
 ...destroying Daddy's 1000-peice puzzle.
...applying mascara and lipgloss incorrectly.
...pulling out every last tissue and baby wipe from its box.
...running away with my phone to call and text various people.

and my personal favorite (insert $60 replacement sarcasm):
...grabbing hold of my laptop by its screen - and dropping it.

Don't let these cheeky grins fool you - these boys are trouble!! ;)