Thoughts on Having Six Kids

The last photo I shared, before I went into labor with Chase, was a picture of the 5 kids in front of the crib guessing boy or girl!
It’s always exciting when a baby is about to be born but waiting to find out just adds to it times a million!
We had so many conversations about who this little person was going to be. :)
This week we spontaneously recreated the photo but, instead of holding up pink or blue onesies, Sophia held up Chase. :) He was the perfect little person meant to be in our family. Chase has brought so much JOY and cozy snuggles to our days! (And lack of sleep to our nights. haha.) I never could have imagined six kids…but here we are and it’s proof to me that God’s plans for us is way better than we could ever imagine.

This was a fun photo to recreate and it made me think about how right now…Chase feels like he’s always been with us! But, just months ago, we didn’t even know what his sweet squishy face would look like! I’m grateful for him and for every face here. Motherhood is a wild ride for sure.. exhausting and overwhelming but the greatest privilege. It’s the job that you can desperately pray for and want – but while you’re in the hard days you can feel like you aren’t adequate for it at all. Like who on earth thought you would be the right person to hire for this job??? haha. But…..You keep on going. Your kids don’t expect you to be perfect they just want to feel loved and safe. They don’t focus in on your flaws or shortcomings like we so often do to ourselves. Whether it was one child or six…it’s always been hard work to be a mom. But I can say…. that the joy has increased with every single one of them. (and the noise ha) It’s pure magic having the fun experiences with them and seeing the interactions between them. They all have special little bonds with each other and over the years you see them form and deepen even more. It’s pretty wild looking at this photo and thinking they are all mine! I remember when it was just Ben and me dating in college!

It’s a tricky spot with blogging… you want to show real life and how it’s not always sunshine and daisies but at the same time…when you sit down to write about it, somehow a lot of the hard stuff doesn’t take focus. Writing about the kids makes me think- wow just how lucky I am! And how so much of our day is yes, louder and challenging with the juggle, but my days are filled up with so much fun and life. I hope that this comes across in what we share on here and our Instagram. Big family life is something special. Sometimes I feel like I just had Sophia and Sienna and then blinked and suddenly we are here with four boys added to the mix! HOW is Sophia almost as tall as me? Time is zooming for sure. They are all growing into such kind and sweet people. Still all very silly, they get that from their dad. ;)
(Using my ‘Hands Full Heart Full’ Tote bag below)

I remember back when we had our 4th baby I was always getting asked if they were all mine! (They usually counted the kids first with their finger.)
I’m still getting those reactions, as you can imagine, now that we have six.
My favorite interactions are with older people who tell me they were 1 of 4 or 5 kids etc and share how special their bond is now as they’ve grown up!
I want that for my kids. (Rocking my ‘Yes, they are all mine’ Tote bag below!)

It’s hard to picture life past these little kid days… but I know soon enough everyone is going to be grown up and it will be a whole other experience as a mom of so many big kids.
I’m told I’ll still worry…and lose sleep! Having older kids will come with it’s own set of challenges AND it’s own fun memories! Will we all go together to cheer a brother at his games? Go on special trips that are easier with big kids? Will they be bringing home future wives and husbands?  I’m sure hard times will come and my prayer is that we face them together as a family – everyone looking out for each other. I hope everyone stays close- they can go off on their adventures and chase big dreams- but always stay close as siblings and friends.