Geez. One of my top goals for the new year was to bring back the blog. And I did it for a while and now almost a month has passed with little activity. So today is the day. It is back. In addition to sharing the beautiful babies and weddings I have shot, I will be sharing a little more about me and my family as well. So much of my life feels "unsharable" because it isn't perfect, but I decided that it really doesn't matter. Not much of life is perfect! So today I am going to let you in on a little peek of our life.
LIFE WITH FIVE KIDDOS.
One thing I get asked all the time is HOW do you survive with five kids?
It is really a loaded question. I must first say that you are either a fan of big families or your not. Obviously, we are. I always KNEW I would have a large family. I wanted lots of littles running at my feet. And I think I got it. lol. But life raising five kids is crazy. We rarely have a clean home (except when I have sessions and we make a MAD DASH before clients show up!). There are toys pretty much everywhere. For the most part, the kids keep the toys in their rooms. But we find the occasional lego masterpiece on the mantle or random car or train in the kitchen. My living room has Ames' toys since he spend the majority of his days in there. The carpet is CONSTATNLY covered with blocks. We just embrace it.
The biggest thing for survival with 5 is letting go of things. I can't let the dirty house get to me. My car is a wreck too. And it used to stress me out but now I am over it. I also don't over do things as a mom. In the era of pinterest, that is hard sometimes, but I have let go of homemade valentines and school parties, etc. I just can't commit to them. My kids aren't suffering without them.
On that note as well, my personal time gets put on the backburner too. Travis and I rarely go on dates (alone). We usually always have a kid in tow with us. We don't do movies or concerts or really much of anything without our kids. And we are ok with it. I know that one day our nest will be empty (if I survive it!) and I will have more time than I know what to do with. So for now, manicures and solo shopping trips are a luxury item.
With five, our days are wild and crazy. We run from the time they rise until the fall asleep. Someone is always ALWAYS needing something. The evenings are the hardest. When homework needs to be done, dinner needs to be started, little ones start the afternoon wind down (read: cranky) and we are exhausted from the day. Sleep is also a rarity around this house. Finn is still not sleeping through the night. He does a good 5 hour stretch most nights but it starts well before we turn in and usually ends shortly after I fall asleep. And of course the nights he doesn't wake a lot, someone else does with a bad dream or tummy ache or something. I honestly feel like my body has learned to survive on 4 hours of sleep. ha!
SO that is a peek at life with five. But honestly as a parent, you know that life isn't that much different with two! All parenting is pretty much the same. It is just more to juggle, more clothes to wash, more mouths to feed, and more snuggles and kisses. I for one think it is a pretty good trade. :)
I will be sharing some pretty photos tomorrow, but look for some more life updates soon. Including my newest home decor project, our living room! :) And I would love to hear from you guys! Feel free to post comments or ask questions or let me know if you have something you want to hear about.
