The Fun 5

Well it's been a little over two weeks of caring for five kiddos and while some things still feel overwhelming, we are finding our groove in many areas.

Don't get the wrong impression...there are moments of utter chaos each day, but there are also moments of fun and hugs and comforting and healing and playing pretend. We are trying hard to have intentional one on one time with each kid each day, even if only for 10-15 minutes. Thankfully the middle three are really into sitting on our laps and reading books so that helps with the one on one time!

It's funny, when we were trying to predict what areas of our lives were going to need more order and new routines to make this doable, we thought getting up and out the door on the mornings we all have to be on the go would be one that needed a lot of work to not be completely insane... but once you're changing two diapers, what's 3? And what's picking out one or two more outfits for kiddos when you're already in their bedrooms opening drawers? And once everyone's seated at the table for breakfast I just go chair to chair fixing hair, ha! So while it does take longer, it has really just seemed like more repetition than creating a whole new routine.

Our biggest change in routine has been bedtime. Sweet A came to us used to getting a bath every night. Our kids were lucky if they got 2 baths a week, ha! So, with wanting to keep things as consistent as possible for Sweet A, we now put the twins (our new name for Sweet A and Aiden since they're only 4 months apart) in the shower every evening between 630 and 715 (depending on the level of crazy that evening) and the other kids either also get showers/baths or go straight into their pj's. Once everyone has their pj's on, we gather in the living room, put on Moana (yes we have watched this every evening since Sweet A came to us!), and start handing out one last snack to each kiddo. And then around 730 we start taking one kiddo at a time and putting them to bed, aiming to have the four oldest in bed by as close to 8 as possible. Then Baby K gets some extra cuddles, one last bottle and she goes down too. Bedtime used to be a dreaded time in our home, but now it is honestly one of the best times of the day...clean kiddos in their pj's who love to cuddle and sing along to all the songs.

There are still random moments where it hits us that we have FIVE kids right now. Like when we look at the bathroom door and see this...

Or when we all load up in the car and it's not an option to bring more than one friend along with us anymore...

Or when we try to load the diaper bag for an evening out and can't fit all the water bottles, pj's and jackets inside it...

Or when we look around the living room and it seems full but we realize we are actually missing a kid or two (usually it's Aiden that is missing and he's causing havoc in another room...), haha!

So there's a peak into some of our new normal...