On Our Own

Well, the last of our live-in parental help staff has left the building, leaving Myke and I staring at each other with "here goes nothing" looks (i.e.: a look of fear and bewilderment).  For real though, I know we can handle the strain of raising four little ones...it will just take some adjustments and A LOT of flexibility on our part.  For instance, tonight after feeding the kids dinner we decided to all pile into our bed (I'm SO glad we finally got a Cal-King sized bed!) and let the kids watch a show.  Usually, I try to limit TV watching to MAYBE one show per day for Chloe and less than that for the boys...but I'm going to let that slide for awhile.  It was fun for the kids and Myke and I got a chance to talk for a few minutes!  It was relaxing!   I know that doesn't sound like anything HUGE.."woahhh, she let her kids watch a show in bed...big whoop"...it's just a small example.  I need to keep things relaxed around here as much as possible. Mainly to make sure I don't get overwhelmed.  Remember, I haven't slept more than 3 hours in a row in 5 weeks now.  I have 3 in diapers.  I have 3 under 2.  I have 1 sassy 4 year old.  Gotta love it :)  

While losing the extra sets of hands will be a big transition for me during the day, I know it will also be a big transition for the kids.  Eli has been more clingy over the past couple months with all the changes, new house, new baby, visitors in and out, etc...but he has always had a lot of hands to hold him during the day.  Now it will just be me for the most part.  And my hands have 3 other kids to hold, feed, clothe, 2 other to change diapers of, etc.  I can't do all of that while simultaneously holding Eli, unfortunately.  I wish I could.  I can already tell I'll be battling "mom-guilt" on a regular basis as I learn that I have to let things go.  Luckily, we have lined up some help on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  Just from 8:30am-1:30pm, but it's going to be so nice!  Chloë has gymnastics on Tuesday mornings, so it will enable me (and Ella) to take her to that, I can schedule all the kids doctor and dentist appointments during these hours and not have to drag along all 4 kids every time, I can run errands (maybe eventually all by myself!), etc.  I also hope to use at least one of these days per week to take each child out for some one-on-one.  The boys especially don't get a lot of that.  They are so often paired together and go everywhere together.  I want to try to change that.  Looking forward to that especially :)

I need to go to bed before Ella wakes up to eat again.  So I'll close with some recent photos, as usual:

Happy St. Patty's Day!  

me & mom (@1981?)

Mom & the boys (@2013)

At JW Tumbles class- we did a free trial class on Monday

They LOVED it!

Smiles from Ella - (almost 5 weeks old)

my girls

Myke the "SuperDad" walking all 4 kids and the dog home from the park

Eli & Owen ready for their run.

Yes, I started running this past week.  I'm 5 weeks post-partum and still 20lbs over my pre-prego weight.  And I have a knack for sweets that I just can't kick.  Need to run to off-set that...at least

it off-sets it in my mind!  How many Peppermint Patties can I eat if I run 1 mile?  Probably 1 bite.

Chloë checking out the lizard that was in our house last week!

This is after our very involved mission to get it out of the house.

The mission involved two broom, blockades, and plenty of gasps from Gramma!