Five Kids: Defined

There was a honeymoon period. When the babies slept all day long, the sun was out, birds-a-chirping, and meals were being delivered left and right. Five kids? Easy-peasy.

Then the babies woke up. The Spring weather got smacked in the face with cold breezes and occasional rain. The meals stopped. Then my reality set in.

What I have learned thus far about five kids (under 6):

One may draw stripes on his face with a marker, hoping to be an Indian.

One may go unnoticed a few hours with Indian stripes on.

One may not get those stripes washed off...because, A, there's no time for stripe washing, and B, what's the point of washing them off anyway...

There may never be a quiet moment. If you are one for peace and simplicity, five kids is not your cup of tea. In fact, if you are one to enjoy anything other than chaos, stay away from five kids.

Perfection? Something I used to strive for. I've been taught my whole life to avoid it, and now I know why. It's quite disappointing to learn that nothing can be perfect. It's a daily death to self, knowing that a to-do list may get but one task done and there are nine items left. The more I die to perfection, the less chaotic my home becomes (although the state of the chaos remains the same...it's a mind thing, you see).

You know you can actually nurse two babies at once while talking on the phone, while looking through a barn book with a two-year-old, while giving a three-year-old the "DON'T TOUCH THE FIRE" glare?. It can be done. It's not a favorite moment of the day, but it can be done.

Five kids means five extra people to love, and better, five extra people to love you back. With five, you can't even try to count the amount of hugs, kisses, cuddles, nuzzles, and love that goes around in one day. It's enough... enough to remind one why exactly one has have five kids.

One Month

The babies are actually six weeks, but because they have been sick for the last two weeks, this was my first attempt to capture them... sorry babies.

A quick update... we are home! After an entire week in the hospital, Elias was discharged on Thursday evening. It was an emotionally exhausting week, but of course, the Lord had many things for me to learn during it. He is so good and his mercy endures forever. He is also training me that whenever something stressful or "out of plan" occurs, to simply sit back, trust Him, and say, "Okay, Lord, what are you going to teach me this time?"... He addressed a few things in my character that have been a bit neglected, and I am grateful for His refining. Of course, I am still a work in progress. But I will never forget the past week because it was His attempt to do a little Jodi-boot camp. :-)

Moving on, here are my babies... we'll just say at one month.

(August, left- Elias, right)

Is it me, or do they look very different from each other? I am not sure if it's still due to weight (Oz weighs 6lb8oz now and Elias, 7lb8oz), or if they are just not quite identical... I am curious to see what more chub will do to them.

There are not really any milestones to record. I think that they fall within "preemie" terms as far as development. Right now they do act like 3 week olds. I have gotten a few smiles, but they still are very newborn-ish. They don't stay awake for long. They are eating every 2-2.5 hrs in the day and give me a 5 hr stretch, followed by 3-hr stretches at night. It's strange to me, because my other babies were doing 12 hr stretches by this age. I have to remember that they are still so tiny and were early, so it's to be expected.

The hospital threw us all off. The babies were in a great routine and finally figured out their days/nights. At the hospital, the lights are always on, they get no fresh air, and nurses are waking them every 1/2 hr to check vitals, etc... it was not restful for anyone. I was fearful that we would have to start over when we got home, but the babies were so happy to be home.

The cooing that they were doing while eating left when we were gone. Their first feeding home, they started right back up. They also jumped right into their old routine, as if it never happened. Thank you, babies!

Temperaments remain the same. Neither are fussy, but August gets agitated a little bit easier. Elias is so "chill". Nothing phases him. He always seems to have a little smile on his face too. Oz loves chest time, where as Elias prefers to be held cradle-style. Those are about the major differences between them. I have them on their backs now, swaddled and elevated because they still have minor coughing spells. They always end up turning to their sides and facing each other, fitting their faces together like puzzle pieces. It's amazing.

We love you boys!