Over the hump

I am writing this because I always want to remember this time in my life...for two reasons. The first is obvious: my kids are each at a stage that I want to hold onto forever.
Emily is grown up enough that I can sit with a cup of coffee and have a real conversation with her like I would with one of my girlfriends. Yet, at 8 years old, she's still innocent and genuinely loves to help and love on her family.
Kaleb, 6, is still my little guy. He still loves to give me hugs and kisses, and he's discovering the athletic abilities and engineering gifts he's been blessed with.
Avery, at 2, has developed a PERSONALITY like I haven't seen in my other kids. (Read my "Where'd this kid come from?" post from a month or two ago.) She's so cute. And my little Levi...what a honey! He's the most content little baby, and I love where he's at right now. 9 months old, he's not really saying any real words, but he is very vocal and full of life. And this next little one, still five months away from making his/her appearance, gets to be a part of it all. Our little surprise bonus, he or she is allowing me to experience all that I love (maybe most of all) about being a mom: pregnancy and childbirth.

There is no other time in my family's life like what we are experiencing right now.

That being said, let me tell you the second reason why I always want to remember this time: I want to remember that we SURVIVED it! Even now, as I type, I hear some sort of loud rolling (I don't think we have a bowling ball upstairs!) in the hallway and someone yelling at someone else.

Our weeks looks something like this: Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesdays, Greg is off to work at 7:30 or earlier, comes home for an hour for dinner, and is off to tutor or teach a college math class for the evening. Those are the toughest days. I teach Emily and Kaleb during the schooldays, trying to begin before 9 am. (It's 8:59 right now!) We get through school with a two year old terrorizing the house and a baby getting up and down from naps. Until recently, I was running to the bathroom getting sick (from pregnancy) every half hour, and wanted to take five naps a day. Greg and I are particular about toys being picked up and the house being, well, at least decent, so that takes a lot of energy with four kids around all the time. And then we try and fit in trips to the library, botanical gardens, and gym. By Wednesday night, I am SPENT!
This new schedule is only a few weeks old, but I'm realizing what Thursdays mean. They are like the new Saturdays. (or at least a step in that direction!) Thursdays and Fridays are the days when ALL I have to do is teach, clean, cook, change 6-8 diapers, give baths, run errands, go to the gym, and anticipate Greg's arrival at 3:30 pm. Ahhh...
By the way, it is Thursday morning. We made it over the Wednesday hump.

I'm not telling you this to make you feel sorry for me. There are people that have it a lot worse off than I do. I get to be home with my favorite people in the world, and for that I'm very grateful. I'm writing this so that I can look back on it one day and think, "I made it. That was a crazy time, and I'm glad I was young when it happened. We did it."

Or maybe that's all an illusion and life will only get crazier from this point forward. I don't know. But I'm going to pat myself on the back and tell myself that I made it to Thursday for one more week...