Friday, May 6, 2011

Becoming a Family of 6...

You know those moments when the impact of a recent change really dawns on you??

Well, I had a few of those this past weekend. Friday was a calm afternoon. Butterfly hung out with Tweetle Beetle & I while Hubby took Ladybug to go get Doodle. The drive is a few hours each way, so by the time they got back Butterfly was in bed. Doodle got to meet Tweetle, and then we slowly got each kid to bed.
The next morning was our first big "different" moment. We had 4 children who wanted to eat! Hubby made coffee while I nursed Tweetle and then we all had cereal... We realized we didn't have any meals thawed for lunch so we discussed going to the store & meat market for sandwich supplies.
It hit me - all of us, in the van, all of us... we're going to fill it up!
Yes, that's the reason we got the minivan a month ago, because we needed to seat 6 and both our other cars sat 5 but neither will fit Butterfly's Booster with 2 Rear-Facing Convertible Carseats. The only way we can go anywhere is with the van, even when Doodle isn't here... we are forever now a minivan family! ...and there it was, that moment of "Wow, we do have a big Family"

That evening, friends stopped by to bring us dinner. They stayed for a little while to meet Tweetle and let the kids play together. They have a child near Doodle's, Butterfly's, and Ladybug's ages... and we also have Baby Tweetle...
So the big boys went one way, the big girls went another, the young ones stayed close to us parents and we passed around Tweetle... and again a moment of "Wow, we do have a big Family"

The next morning was Easter and we had planned to go to my parents house for Brunch & the kids' Easter Baskets and Egg Hunt. Thankfully my Parents had offered to take care of all of it, so we just needed to get everyone showered and dressed, & pack for our day trip to take Doodle back. As we began discussing all the things we needed to do that morning, we quickly realized that we had to start right away, we had to leave in less than 3 hours... and again a moment of "Wow, we have a big Family"

We had a wonderful Easter which I will soon share with you...

When I tried to get pictures of what each child was doing and got... I missed so much. We had 4 adults and 4 kids, and each kid wanted attention. Hubby had to leave (we actually forgot spare clothes for the baby!!) and and again a moment of "Wow, we do have a big Family"... while trying to pictures of them.
I didn't get the picture that I wanted of our family of 6, I didn't get just the 4 kids, but I got a nice picture of my parents with their 4 grandkids so we can all remember the day :)

Then we got ready to leave, and everyone had to say goodbye to Grandpa & Grandma 2-3 times, lots of hugs but wow it takes a while to leave now!
We stopped halfway through our trip for a potty break, which first required giving Ladybug a baby wipes bath and trying to clean out her carseat. Then I took the 3 littles into the family restroom, alone, and actually survived! (Hubby helped us all to the door, and then met us at the door to help us all back to the car, but inside I did it!!)

Finally, when we stopped for dinner just before dropping off Doodle we barely fit in a "normal" booth. I nursed Tweetle while in there and Butterfly sat next to me, Doodle sat with Hubby while Ladybug sat on the end in a highchair. Again it was a  moment of "Wow, we do have a big Family"

I guess during the months of pregnancy I was trying to get ready for the baby, but it never occurred to me to get ready for the bigger family!
With so many times of realizing it, I think I have it down now... we are a bigger family than most, but we wouldn't have it any other way!!

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