if you're bored.

for six weeks now we have been a family of six. here is a quick update:

i'm feeling a little claustrophobic and suffocated lately. just a little. it hits me different times and i just want someone else to feed the little one or i want the bigger little ones to just go away. (this is where i feel compelled to tell you that i am also so in love with my kids despite those feelings, as if you didn't already know that!)

we do better when we're all outside. we're taking many walks these days around the block, to the park and to the store. it's keeping me sane. (or i should say preserving what little sanity i have left.) when b is home, we try to get out all together. a couple of times we've spent the day in our little downtown walking to the library and the park. being outside helps us enjoy one another rather than feeling frustrated by the chores at home that are not getting done or feeling frustrated with bored, loud children. (there are a lot of them-- chores and kids-- we're quite outnumbered.)

nic has lost two more teeth, one just days after my last post. did you notice the dangling middle top tooth? i didn't post about the tooth fairy forgetting again for the THIRD time, because it was a little cute before, now it's just obnoxious. (we've compromised any hope of him believing...) the last time we forgot, he came to my bed in the morning and i realized immediately what had happened. i'm pretty sure i said, "oh, @#$%*&!!" under my breath. oliver said, "don't worry, nic, the tooth fairy always remembers the second night." he lost the other today, his 6th. i'm washing the blood stain out of my comforter right now. the tooth fairy might give him $5 this time, poor kid.

our house smells like a bouquet of mentholatum right now. b just bought one of those humidifiers that includes the nasal clearing smell and it's pumping in abi's room. all three older kids have colds. abigail's is the worst. she's only coughed in elliot's face 5 or 6 times now, but we still have hope that he will evade the sickness. a friend of mine commented the other day about our family spending the day out saying, "wow, with #4, there is no staying home to guard the nap and protect from germs!" which made me laugh because the germs are IN our house and unfortunately there is no nap to guard, YET.

our kind friends at church are bringing meals three times a week. this has been amazing and yummy. we have one more week of that to go. we also had three weeks of help from our family. that kept us alive! life is hectic with four, but we're doing what we can to work as a team and stay under control. there are many moments that make it obvious that i need jesus to forgive me like tonight when i threw abigail's toy down the hall because she made elliot cry AGAIN by sticking it in his face.

over all, in six weeks, we've survived much better than i expected, but we're definitely still in survival mode. most days, i'd give my right arm to just shower, balance my check book or even fold a basket of laundry... okay, okay, i'd rather get a pedicure, but you get my point.

our family is taking shape and i can't wait to see what imprint elliot will make on all of us. he's made a lasting imprint on my belly i'm afraid and on that note i'll leave you with a quote from oliver. i was leaving with oliver and elliot for a walk and oliver said, "mom, i'm thinking some people might think you have two babies. not that they'll think i'm a baby, but that you have elliot and a little one still in your tummy. but maybe when you get skinny like before they won't think that anymore."
the funny thing is that he is the one that said this when i was NOT pregnant and in my "skinny-before" state.