Thursday, July 31, 2014

confessions of a new mom to four...

it is important to know that i am a firm advocate of new moms taking things extremely slow after the arrival of a new baby...of getting ample rest, and allowing others to serve them through tending to the home and other life demands. however, since my sweet E came a full two weeks late, my mom was only able to stay for two days after she was born and my dear husband had to start back to work exactly one week after E's birth. this meant that on this last monday morning, i suddenly found myself alone in my house with four children ages four and under. i must have sat on the couch for a full thirty minutes with a newborn on my breast and three boys cramming to get as close to her as possible, before the reality of it all really hit me. i simply laughed.

for the most part, life truly is all rainbows and sunshine, pretty bows and magic in the air, adoring brothers and hearts that might truly explode from all the love...BUT...things can go from rainbows to harried in a minute flat, giving ricky and i ample moments to laugh about at the end of the day as we sit exhausted on the couch.

i want to be able to look back someday and smile as i remember all the goodness and chaos mixed up into one exciting season. because lets be honest, i would not trade a single moment during this last week for the world!!!!!!

so, here are a few of my mommy confessions from my first week flying solo with my new little crew of four...

i have not at all figured out when or how to cook. thankfully my mom left us with a stocked fridge that we have managed to make stretch as long as possible, but for the most part, i have resorted to throwing fruit snacks and bowls of goldfish at the boys...with a few pieces of real fruit mixed in. they, of course, haven't complained at all, but i know i will have to figure out this whole cooking thing eventually. until then, who wants another popsicle?!

my midwives left me with strict instructions to do no heavy housework or lifting for several weeks postpartum...i had a great delivery, but they are wonderful advocates of mothers allowing themselves ample time to heal before getting back into the swing of things. i am trying...trust me. and from the looks of my house, i'm sure you would believe me. but then there are those tasks that i simply cannot avoid...like carrying my mud-covered 40+ lb. 3yr old through the house and throwing him into the shower to clean off...there is always the faint whisper in the back of my head..."i'm pretty sure my midwives would not approve of this one." bless them!

i've seriously thought about putting all three boys down for a nap at 9:30 in the morning...only to muscle my way through to a slightly later 11:30a.m. this ultimately does not work in my favor as i am then ready to do baths and bed time at 5:15p.m. i know our "new normal" will set in eventually and until then, i am just grateful for boys who still take some pretty impressive naps.

my sweet boys have lived in their wide variety of super hero pj's for the last three days. but don't worry, Ellis is in a new outfit and hair band at least three or four times throughout the day. hehe. i kid a little here, but seriously, how fun is dressing a girl?!

ricky txted me to see how our morning was going, and a mere minute after txting him that things were great, i sent him this txt: "although since sending that, madden snuck outside and covered himself in mud and is now in the shower, Ellis blew out her diaper, tobin is yelling at me from his chair at the table because i forgot to actually give him his food after strapping him in, and kale is thankfully demanding nothing at the moment."

in order to continue resting myself, my crew and i have watched an embarrassing amount of disney movies and doc mcstuffins over the last several days. i would probably cringe if i tried to add up the hours so i won't do that...instead, i can confidently say that our "snuggle tanks" are more than full and we can now all recite "the incredibles" and "monsters university" verbatim. that's a win-win in my book! ;)

i know we will eventually get into a groove and i will have figured out how to fit in cooking and getting us all dressed, but until then, we are embracing this fun and crazy ride and i am enjoying Ellis's newborn days to the fullest...i am currently drinking in her smell as she sleeps on my chest and we soak in the silence of nap time...and in a few short hours, we will be soaking in more laughter and little boy cuddles than we know what to do with.

what a full, blessed life this is.

(and because i am slightly obsessed with my girl, here are few pics of the hundreds that i took just yesterday alone...wink)

xoxoxo.




6 comments:

  1. Bless you Katie! You sure have your hands full. Not sure how I would handle 4 little ones under 4, especially when you can only do so much lifting etc right now. You will get the hang of things soon! Will be praying for you...enjoy these precious moments.
    xoxo, Jenny

    Also love this beautiful pics of baby ellis!

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  2. Katie, she is beautiful!! Look at those squishy little arms! I am dying. And, I think you are doing an amazing job! What a blessing to have our girls to dress, now. I just looked in the closet and have about 20 outfits that probably will only fit the next two weeks and the still have tags - sheesh!!

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  3. Man. Can't imagine. You rock! My friend already has 2 girls (3 and 18 months) just met their 3rd baby through adoption when she was born this morning, and my friend is pregnant due in December. So they're going to go from 2 to 4 in a matter of months. I'd love to pick your brain on specific things I can do to help her out... when you have time to think of them of course ;)

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  4. Oh my goodness I just loved this! It seriously took the words out of my mouth! It's crazy how things can be so completely calm one minute and absolutely crazy the next! It is so fun having a little girl! And I am loving her headbands! She's adorable!

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  5. You're doing great. I can't even imagine how you do it! Love the sweet pictures.

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  6. That sounds fun, your boys are going to be so fun for her growing up. Love her headbands, too!!

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