I’ve been missing here for a couple of weeks. My mother-in-law was in town and I didn’t get to the computer much. Things are going pretty well here in 5-kid-land. I guess some things are going more well than others. Watching baby cheeks get chubby– going very well. Enjoying the spring weather– going well. Keeping up with laundry and toilet scrubbing– not so well. But, for the most part all of my people are fed and happy, so I call that success. Toilets schmoilets.

One thing getting a little nerve racking was trying to go places with all 5 kids in the mini van. We quickly discovered that if there were going to be friends coming along on trips to the zoo or any camping trips with all the gear in our future we were going to need a larger mode of transportation. A new Odessey would only give us room for one more passenger, so we decided if we’re going to go bigger, may as well go all the way.

Behold the 12 passenger Ford Econoline 350. Barry e-mailed all the dealerships in the area that had one and got them to bid against each other. We settled on a super good deal without stepping foot in a dealership apart from the initial test drive. It’s a beast, but will be better gas mileage than driving two cars on trips. It is nice to have the room. I’m constantly having flashbacks to when I was a kid and we had a two-tone brown Dodge Mini Ram. Even when she was driving, my mom got in the side door and just walked up to the driver’s seat. I think of that every time I climb in through the side door, get the babies situated in their car seats, and walk up to the driver’s seat. It’s that same feeling I get when I hear myself yell at my kids and realize that, yes, I am turning into my mother. I have 1 girl, 4 boys and a big brown van. I am so TOTALLY turning into my mother.

I also got a new double stroller. Unlike my old Kelty jogging stoller, this one can fit through doors and has enough basket space underneath to stash the diaper bag, camera bag, soccer ball, and a folded Razor scooter or two.

Hunter likes it. Looking at him makes me giddy. I know I’ve probably said this before, but I just can’t get over the miracle of mother-love. I remember being scared, when I was pregnant with my second baby, that I wouldn’t be able to love him nearly as much as I did my first, or that all my heart would be fixated on the new one, leaving the first with the left-overs. I just couldn’t wrap my brain around the possibility of feeling the enormity of what I felt for Brenna for another baby as well. But, Jonah came, and somehow I loved him fiercely, and Brenna just the same. My capacity to love just expanded– and it has every time. Each new little person has stretched me and made more room for that new overwhelming love not changing anything about how I feel about the others, except maybe making me even a little more grateful for them.

I guess this new little guy has expanded our capacity in more ways than one.

(Oh, and see that quilt. April made it. I miss you, April!)