life as a family of 6!

hello all. so in case you missed it, the day after my last blog, we added a fourth boy to our household! meet two year old, itty bitty!

he came to us on biggie's fifth birthday. as you could guess, it threw a monkey wrench in our day and our celebration. but he genuinely didn't seem to mind. which was really cool. it has been a lot of fun watching him mature into a five year old boy.

I have noticed with each addition to the family, that whichever child is "knocked out of the saddle" birth order wise has the hardest time. this time, since tiny was no longer the baby anymore, he was the most resistant to a new brother. but within a few days, he was fine. 

obviously, I can't say too much about itty bitty's situation on here. he has never been in care before, so we are his first placement. he is so sweet and pretty smart for his age. his speech is a little behind but he is already showing progress. he loves his new big brothers and has really taken to me and Aaron. he likes to sing and play outside. he is such a fun little one. 

obviously, becoming a family of 6 has had its own challenges, but over all it has been good. 4 kids are definitely easier than 3. I have always heard that but now I know first hand. everyone has a buddy. there isn't the odd one out. 

we had one big joint party to celebrate biggie and small's birthdays  (he will be 4 in March) and that was so fun.

 so hard to believe how much time has passed with our older boys. some days, it feels like they have been ours forever. other days, I am reminded of just how much life they lived before ever meeting us. 

we are still waiting on paperwork with them. once everything is filed as it is supposed to be, we SHOULD be able to apply to adopt them. who knows how long that will all take but we are hopeful and patiently awaiting the future. 

tiny has had some really hard moments lately. he has an older brother and sister that are placed in a home a couple hours away from us. I think being away is starting to wear on him. but at this point it is what is best. we are all growing and learning together. I have really bonded with their foster mom. tiny lived with her for 6 weeks. we have a pretty significant age difference and not much in common other than our heart for these kids. it has been so neat how God has used that. calling her on hard days brings lots of comfort. 

I have been reflecting a lot on how full my plate can be at times lately. I work at our church 20 hours a week as well as at the salon 2 days a week. and then 4 kids :) at this point I don't necessarily need to work two jobs, but I honestly enjoy them both so much. I know I am fortunate to have two jobs I love. plenty of people don't even have one they enjoy. Aaron and I have had lots of conversation and prayer about it but at this point, I am doing everything I want and need to do. it can be a lot some days, but I am always thankful. 

life as a family of 6 is crazy chaotic and exhausting, but it is so sweet and fun and good!