Family of Eight!

I debated on how to do a recap of how all of us are doing, and I decided with just a big long post.  So grab some snacks and enjoy!

Max: 2 Months

 Once again Max is so easy.  He rarely needs attention, but if you give it to him, he's all smiles and cooing.  He was the first to smile at about 4 weeks but really started smiling to everyone more around 6 or 7 weeks.  He is awesome at keeping his binki in and usually falls asleep with little to no problem.  He LOVES to eat.  He drinks his bottle like he's been starved all his life, and he is the one who reminds me it's time to eat (every 3 hours).  He likes his baths pretty well, and is really a great baby all together.  At his 2 month appointment he weighted 11 lbs 15 oz (51%, up from 22%), is 23 1/2 inches long (82% up from 62%), and his head circumference is 39.5 cm (71% up from 49%).  So he's growing VERY nicely and was a pro at his shots.

Spencer: 2 Months

Spencer, although is a bit more needier than Max, is still a super chill baby.  He started talking (5 weeks) before he started to smile (7 weeks).  He will also smile and talk to you when given the love and attention.  He loves to be held. He's not super great at keeping his binki in and usually cries a bit before going to sleep.  Once he's asleep though he's out.  I'm actually not entirely sure he goes to sleep all the time. There are times when I walk in the room and he's just laying there with his eyes open, what a good baby.  They are sleeping in our room for now, but I will start having them take a couple of naps in the cribs to get them use to them when they get a little bigger.  At this 2 month appointment he weighed 12 lbs 1 oz (54% up from 18%), 23 1/4 inches long (72% down from 90%), and his head circumference is 40.7 cm (94% up from 79%).  So he's the shorter chubbier twin with a bigger head.  He also did amazing recovering from the shots.

Ryan: 21 Months

Ryan took a little while to adjust to his new brothers.  After coming home from Grandma's there was a lot of hitting, crying, yelling, and even biting which is not like him at all.  But after a couple of weeks when I was able to start picking him up he mellowed down and I guess was reassured his mom still loved him. There is a small problem with him drinking out of their bottles and sucking on their bikies, but I'm more okay with those than bringing harm to the new babies. Ryan loves to eat, a lot of times I'm not sure if he ever gets full or if I just stop feeding him because I've run out of food.  He loves to get on the table.  He hardly eats a meal sitting down, he's usually standing on his booster looking so proud of himself.  Ryan has a fedish with shoes.  He loves to get either Steven or my shoe, just one shoe, and wear it around the house.  When he laughs it's a deep growl belly kind of laugh that can make Jacob and I smile instantly.  It's my favorite.  He had a hard time with nursery for a good month or two, but is now an old pro!  He still is pretty limited with his speech, but is adding slowly to it.  But he makes his wants known tp me by other means, like pushing and pulling me to where he wants me.  Ryan is still a pretty happy and mellow child.  He will often give up his toys instead of starting a fight with his brothers (he will come to me crying but all I have to do is pull him close and he's fine).  Though he is getting better at standing up for himself.  

He's starting too young for putting his hands down his pants if you ask me!

William: 21 Months

Like Ryan, when he came home from Grandma's he had quite a hard time.  He loved to show us Spencer and Max's eyes (poking them), and wanting to hug them (lay on them), and then there was the extra hitting, biting, pushing. But unlike Ryan, this is actually fairly normal for William.  He's the bully in the family, it doesn't matter if you are Steven or Max, if you are in his way or have something he wants he'll take it by any means.  His poor brothers (namely Ryan and Christopher) have teeth marks that match William's.   We are thankful that it stays in the family and we haven't had any problems at nursery; that we know of.  That being said, William gives the best hugs at the best times, or when you ask for one.  He is also more likely to snuggle when asked.  William also likes to suck of the binkies and drink from the bottles when he gets a chance, but also likes to help me put the bottles in the sink when they are done.  He likes to put lots of things in the sink: food, wrappers, crayons, diapers, my phone.  What a helper!  William talks more than Ryan, though just by a few words, but he also uses other means to make what he wants known.  He loves to eat and make us laugh.  He loves to talk to Ryan when they are suppose to go to sleep, I wish that we had a camera in there to see them!  He and Ryan now weigh about 31 lbs, only 13 lbs off from Steven and 6 from Christopher.  I'm certain they'll be as big as their older brothers in no time.

Christopher: 3 yrs

Christopher is handling the new transition pretty well, after the first week or so.  He is adorable and everyone who meets him will tell you.  But he is LOUD.  He talks non stop. Often times he'll tell me a story, half way through he'll ask me if I'm listening, then repeat himself up to that point and then change the topic completely before he's done.  Christopher also likes to narrate his life to me, even things he sees like that car passing by.  The only bad side to this is that he HAS to have my undivided attention for all of it.  He especially likes to repeat what other people say to me, as if I couldn't hear anything until he says it. Jacob and I agree that he can easily make us the most upset but then make us laugh the loudest.  Christopher has recently stopped taking naps, I found that he most often just made messes instead of sleeping.  So now he plays with Steven while I nap and when it's time for bed he falls asleep in a matter of minutes instead of hours like before.  Christopher LOVES to eat, are getting the pattern here?  He loves to play with Steven and is starting to get his own voice by telling him what he will and will not play.  He is really sweet and will often share with his brothers without even asking.  He loves his blankets (you can pretty much get him to fall in love with any blanket) and "burp rag blankie".  He especially likes to "niff the cords" (put the corner of the blanket in his nose and sniff.)  He also loves to change his clothes multiple times a day, mostly from pajamas into more pajamas.  Christopher's great at puzzles.  It's the cutest when he talks to William and Ryan like they are infants but really they are only an inch or two shorter than he is.  Christopher, while at Target would lay down in front of the cart for Jacob to run over him, then laugh.  Our poor kids are so weird, and Christopher is no exception.  But we love them to death anyway.

Steven: 4 yrs.

Steven is growing up before our eyes.  I'm afraid he has had the hardest time as well with this new change to our family.  He has started talking like a baby and cries more than usual, but I guess that what you get when you are only 4 and have 5 younger brothers.  He has graduated from his preschool in our neighborhood and will go to kindergarten in the fall, in hopes that being with older kids will rub off on him.  That being said, he does love to play with his brothers, he's a great big brother.  Steven loves to draw and is really getting good at it.  He likes to make us stories for what he's drawn and is really getting good at writing.  My favorite was when he had a rocket (a cardboard box) and wrote A R SP (for Outer Space).  I've started to read to he and Christopher before bed and Steven is really loving it.  Right now we are reading, "James and the Giant Peach."  and he races to get ready for bed so we can read more.  Steven still loves to touch hair, mostly his brothers and mine.  During preschool graduation he said he wanted to be a garbage man or mail man when he grows up. His new job in our "new" van is to sit between Max and Spencer and help put in binkies in their mouths and feed them if needed.  He liked it for maybe half a day, but normally he just starts to cry because he doesn't like to hear them cry.  This kid can remember and recite lines from movies and songs after only hearing them once or twice.  He is also FULL of questions, and apparently he doesn't just keep it from home but his teachers told me they always laughed when he asked so many questions.  Quite a few times he'll ask me what detailed conversations meant in a movie we watched weeks ago.  Smart kid.

Dad

Jacob had a birthday and I was going to do a post on his birthday, but I just didn't get around to it.  Jacob is such a great dad, all of his boys adore him and love to wrestle and play around with him.  When Jacob puts them to bed, they all lay down and he throws their blankets at their heads.  They LOVE it and giggle which makes him want to do it more.  He loves to garden and can usually been seen walking around our yard seeing the progress his plants are doing. He finds so much joy in it, and is passing that joy on to Steven. Jacob pretty much works so hard every day and then when he does get a chance to relax his body finally lets itself gets sick, such was the case for his birthday.  So for his birthday he managed to get out of bed for a couple of hours for some festivities, but that was it.  We can't wait till he can come home earlier each day with more energy!  No he doesn't have a new job; we just can't wait till he does and feels better.  We knew he wouldn't be able to help at night, since we've done it before.  But he has been great and when I REALLY need a good night's sleep he offers to get up instead, it makes a big difference.

Mom

I am doing pretty well with it all, it really depends on the day, week, or moment.  It was hard for me to recover from the c-section, which was an added stress I didn't consider.  But once I started to feel more like myself I really felt good and I could handle this new family of ours.  Until the fatigue from not much sleep set in, now it really depends on the moment or day.  For example:  The other day I took all 6 kids with my to Spencer and Max's doctor's appointment (my babysitter fell through), and it went really well. I hadn't gone out by myself with all the kids up to this point so I was on a little high.  We walked in with Steven and Christopher holding William and Ryan's hands while I carried the two carseats.  It was adorable.  In the room they were a bit noisy, but the doctor was good to just ignore them and concentrate on Spencer and Max.  It really went a lot smoother than I could have imagined. Then I took everyone to Walmart to grab a few things, and everyone survived!  It was great, and again I really felt like I could do it.  The next day I cried most of the day.  The other half of the day I lost my patience with my kids, I honestly had to refrain myself from yelling or hurting them them all day.  Which made me feel horrible, which led to more crying; you get where this is going.  I just didn't feel like I was enough for it all, and not only that but I felt I lost myself somewhere.  My Relief Society does spot lights and they asked for our hobbies.  I thought, I have no hobbies, I've lost who I was before I became a mother.  Everything I do is for them; I feed them, clothe them, clean them, clean the house for our family, read to them, and then do it all over again the next day.  Where was there time for me in there? Not much. But when I do get a moment, what do I do?  Blog to preserve their childhood, find new ways to get stains out of their clothes, and take a nap so I can be happy mommy for them.  But in those low moments the scripture Matthew 16:24-27 came to mind:  "Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross, and follow me.  For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.  For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?  or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?  For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works."  I haven't lost myself.  I'm finding the greater verson of myself. The one who will forgo looking good so that her children are more comfortable and happy.  The one who will lose sleep because two helpless children can't go another second without food.  The one who will leave her bowl of cereal to pour yet another bowl; "with no milk; wait, yes milk; I said NO milk!"  My other hobbies will come and go but these tiresome days filled with children are only here now.  So yes, some moments are harder than I ever thought, but then others are magical and everything in between.

And so it is with motherhood, and our crazy family of 8!