You've got your hands full!

"You've got your hands full" is not only the most common phrase I hear each time I venture into public with my 4 sons, but it has also become the most annoying. A close second is "Are you going to try for a girl?" However annoying these may be at least they are not outright rude like some things people have said to me in the last few weeks. Ranked #1 at this time is the lady in the laundry room who told me flat out "Don't have any more kids, okay! There are too many in this world and they are too expensive." I didn't respond but believe me I wanted to.

Garrett is amazing and I can not imagine my family without him. I prayed for a long time after I found out I was pregnant with Garrett to change my heart so that I would really want him. I didn't at all for a long time after I found out I was prego and it was a big struggle for me. Of course that only brought more guilt. I was not ready for him at all. The last few months of my pregnancy were the hardest because we moved so many times. Garrett is 6 weeks old now and sleeps through the night almost every night and he has since only a week old. If he does wake up to eat it is only once. He is growing so fast but is still in the "scrunchy" stage where he will pull his feet up and stick his booty out to stretch. I love it! Until this past week he would cry whenever he was not being held but now he will last longer looking around and he has even started to coo and smile some. Daniel has been a big helper holding him while I make meals during the day or put Jaxon and Wesley down for naps. It is nice to have another set of hands willing to help.

Life with 4 has been really hard so far. Every second is a juggling act. Mornings are not too bad since Garrett sleeps until almost 8 and the other boys are up just after 6am. I feel so much better now that we are all living together in Bakersfield. Bakersfield is hot like Mesa, but cools off in the evening. We are in a kind of run down area but the park is really nice with a pool and jacuzzi. Daniel and Jaxon enjoyed participating in a Pee Wee Sports camp last week and Daniel just lost his first tooth. I can not wait for Kindergarten and preschool to start in the next few weeks.

Taking all 4 of them anywhere is a challenge. It takes me a while to get out the door in the mornings. Grocery shopping is the worst, but most of the time Christlike people take pity on me and bag my groceries or hold Wesley to keep him from screaming or grabbing things while I pay. Actually, in the last few weeks I think we have really turned a big corner. All of my boys have made a huge improvement in their behavior and listening and I have really been enjoying them more. One funny thing happened in Costco the other day. Garrett was strapped to my chest in a carrier and had a blow out. It went all down Jaxon's arm, my leg, and the bread isle! Yuck! It was a rough clean-up.

Garrett has been projectile vomiting a few times almost always in the morning. A poor woman at the boy's sports camp last week volunteered to hold him while I grounded baseballs with Daniel and Jaxon. Garrett was asleep, but he woke up throwing up and completely covered her. It was sad. I am not sure if it is a sign of possibly having EE like Jaxon, but if it doesn't stop he will be seeing a doctor soon.

Johnny is amazing with the boys. He takes the 3 oldest swimming every afternoon so I have some quiet time alone to feed Garrett and make dinner. On Friday he took all 4 to play while I had one whirlwind hour to change all the bed sheets, clean all the floors, and fold & put away 4 loads of laundry. It was such a feeling of accomplishment! I am finally feeling like myself again. Life just keeps getting better and better.