Tuesday, November 15, 2011

4 months

i've been a mom to 6 kids for {a little over} 4 months.
we've been a family of 8 for {a little over} 4 months.

we are settling in.

are things good? has everyone adjusted?

those are the 2 most common questions i get.

the answers. NO.

but that's ok.

settling in vs good/adjusted are very different things.

i am settling in to the fact that i don't have what it takes to be a mom to 6 kids. and i'm learning, slowly but surely, to Him for help. and He gives it. freely. abundantly. and, even then, sometimes i want to cry at 6 pm when someone says, "mom? can i...??"

the kids are settling into the new dynamics that is their family. there are issues. there are tears. there is pain. there is also joy. and laughter. and wrestling. bailey can take lincoln down and he doesn't know WHAT to do with her! to see him at a loss for how to handle something is quite the spectacle!

pat and i are settling into being parents to 6 kids. we enjoy doing LOTS of things together. mostly pretty simple, going for a walk, sitting on the couch at the end of a long day. but we learned this week that meeting for lunch isn't "our thing." pat's mom was SO kind to come watch the boys so i could meet him for lunch. it was a good idea in theory. i just think our days are way too stressful to stop in the middle and pretend we're on vacation or something. we were both glad to say goodbye to each other for a few more hours and were SO glad to see each other later that evening! lunch isn't our "thing." ok. on the flip side, i have never felt more loved and cared for as i do right now. by him. in this season of our life.

we have a long road ahead of us in the "adjustment" area. i'm settling into that reality, too. instead of fear, i have hope. He has done SO many beautiful things so far. the longer the road, the more of Him we get to learn and experience.

i'm terrified {speaking of not having fear ;-)} of the holidays. structure and simplicity and downtime are our friends these days. none of which tend to be around during the holidays. how do we balance what our new kids need with what our family knows to be "how we do things?" praying through and pondering all of that.

so thankful for friends...the ones i see in the dark early in the morning. the ones that come over and love our kids as we eat dinner together. the ones that pray for us FAITHFULLY {thank you!!!}

4 months. settling in.

5 comments:

Unknown said...

I'm not sure I am cut out for two kids mists days. I find parenting a teenager to be so hard, while parenting my 8 year old is so effortless. And I can't stop comparing the two experiences like my Joe will never be an annoying teenager instead of my cuddle monkey.

scooping it up said...

lovely. After 18 months I still feel like constant adjustments are being made. Settling seems just on the brink and then something stirs the waters murky again. I think it's always gonna be like this, and I am gonna have to get more comfortable relying on God to help me make it through! Love to you all.

Holly said...

that's funny...Jake and I aren't 'lunch people' either.

praying for your days...

I'm comin' over soon, just tellin' ya.

Katy said...

I don't really know that we are adjusted or settled in....I think that'd where faith comes in.....if God asked us to do things that we could handle on our own, we would hog all the glory. What an amazing journey these last months have been for you!!! How loved Levi and Lincoln are!!!!

Megan said...

Those questions are the worst. My answer is always the same. "are you kidding me?"