Welllllllll.... It's been awhile. The last time there was a post on this blog, I had four kids. I have four kids right now, but they aren't the same four kids.
There was a 3 year old, but he was only 2 when he slid into our family.... and he did slide... and fit right in. He was our first, and he will always be a special one. "You never forget your first", and they were right. I see his picture everyday in my house, and although I know he's living his life right where he should be, sometimes I ache to hold him just one more time. It's been four months, and I'm just thinking these things now, why? Because at 5:00 in the morning tomorrow I'm sending his little sister to live with him. She was another of the four kids I had during the last post. She was 5 days old, and had just come to our house straight from the hospital. She was the only girl, and I was so ready with all her clothes (even the ones that were 6-9 months :). She has finally come out of the newborn stage, and she smiles at me when I talk to her. She looks just like her brother, the 3 year old, and I think of him every time I look at her. She coos to me and I pretend that she's saying momma. I have been the only Momma that she's known, and I think I'm in denial about how much it is going to hurt me at 5:00 in the morning when she goes to get on the plane.
When "the 3 year old" left, we spent one month with only 3 kids... that was enough because one of them was a newborn and she wanted LOTS of attention. Then one night, a BIG 4 month old baby boy came sleepily to our home.... and he slept!! Until the Big 4 month old, I had no idea that kids would sleep for 12 straight hours. It isn't a myth... some of them actually do, and it turns out that I LOVE the kids who do that. So our Big 4 month old boy joined us and there were four kids again. The first moment I held him, he started smiling and now, almost 3 months later, he hasn't stopped. When I say he is the happiest and easiest baby, I mean it.... he really is, and not just because he will sleep for 12 hours. He loves crawling and he's now pulling up on everything. Those are wonderful traits unless you're trying to make sure they don't have any scratches or marks on them. I just want to go around the whole house and put pillows everywhere. He makes me laugh everyday, so he's doing his job.... and doing it well. He also eats during the 12 hours that he's awake.... he eats a lot. He eats at least 5 jars of baby food (number 2's) a day, and would probably eat more if I would sit there and feed him. I would love to be able to say that we'll be keeping this BIG 7 month old, but that's probably not going to happen, so I'm sure I'll have another one of these nights like tonight where I sit up and stare at him because it will be the last time.
Now, we're about to introduce "another 3 year old" into the family. He's been given a lot of labels recently, and some of them have scared me to death. I know that he's what God wants for us right now, and we are what God wants for him. I can't ask for more than that right now, and with God, we're going to take it one step and one day at a time.
So, while we'll be down to only 3 children again (for a week and a half) we'll be back up to four by the time I post again, and I guess that's just the way it should be.