Circumcisions & Karate

Today, I had to take Gunnar to the doctor to be circumcised again.  Yes, I said again.  After being circumcised at birth it didn't heal quite right so the poor little guy had to have a little more taken off :(  I hate seeing my children in any kind of pain, but he had to have it done at this point.  Luckily the doctor does use Lidocaine to numb it, so it wasn't too bad.  Needless to say this has made for quite an interesting morning.  Since Gunnar isn't sleeping through the night yet(typically my kids do around 8 weeks) I didn't get too much sleep and had to get up at 6am to take him.  My appointment was at 8am, however, the doctor didn't even come into the office till 8:45.  I know doctors tend to run behind, but seriously she is late everytime! I thought, if I am the first appointment, she should be on time since she must get behind meeting with patients during the day.  On the contrary, she is just late to work.  I guess when you own your own practice, you can do that.  Luckily, she is really sweet and gentle with Gunnar so it has been worth it.  Unfortunately, he has been a bit fussy today which is completely understandable.  Thank goodness he is laying down for a nap now which is how I am able to write.

Typically on Wednesday evenings, Cooper takes Shotokan karate at the ballet studio Kindle takes ballet at, Woodstock School of Ballet.  He really loves it.  His instructor is so kind and really patient.  His class typically has 2 or 3 kids in it and occasionally an adult.

He has come so far this year and we are really proud of him.  He will be testing for his yellow belt in July.  He is thrilled!  Nathan has always wanted to learn karate so he decided to take the class along with Cooper.  They are both very excited to have something else they can do together.

A Surprise from My Hubby

Nathan told me yesterday that he got me a surprise that would be arriving today.  As most of my friends know, it is pretty tough for Nathan and I to keep surprises from each other for long :)  I had lots of ideas of what it might be, but he did a good job of convincing me that I had no idea what it was.  I woke up today very excited to see what surprise might be arriving.

When the doorbell rang, we ran to the door to discover a Little Partners Learning Tower.  I was so excited because I have been asking for one for years.  I first heard about it from a friend, Shervin, who owned one and raved about how wonderful it was for her toddler.  For those of you who don't know about them, they are a superior step stool for your children.  Basically your child can climb inside and help at the counter with activities like baking cookies without you worrying that he will fall off of a chair pulled up to the counter.  I have personally experienced the need for this with our children who have fallen several times.  The Learning Tower is wood and comes in a variety of colors.  It is very sturdy and won't tip over.  There are accessories you can get for it including an art easel and a playhouse kit.

I am so excited for my husband to put it together.  The kids are so excited to use it as well!  Thank you to Nathan for my awesome surprise!

"How do you do it all?"

One of the first things I wanted to talk about is something people ask us all of the time.

"How do you do it all? I can barely keep up with my (insert number) of children."

The first thing I would like to say is that my husband and I believe that children are a blessing. Psalm 127:3 Sons are a heritage from the Lord, children are a reward from him.

We love them dearly and feel like God has given us the grace to handle our 5 children. We seek him and trust him in all that we do. That isn't to say that we don't have tough moments, of course we do, but we always remember that we can get through whatever hardship comes our way.

Something that I have discovered is essential for me and my sanity is a schedule. I am not a huge stickler, laying out every 15 minutes of each day on a chart, but I try to get a general idea of the week ahead and stick with it. With 5 children and a very busy schedule, we have to sometimes go with the flow, but in general we stay pretty on track. When my first son was an infant, I read On Becoming Baby Wise by Gary Ezzo. It was very helpful in getting all of my infants on a good schedule. They have all (so far) slept through the night at 8 weeks which has been a huge blessing. I have also enjoyed his recommendation of letting your infant eat, then play, then sleep. It worked really well with our family. It also helped me to know how to schedule my nursing schedule. I am currently reading Managers of Their Homes by Teri & Steve Maxwell. They are very big into schedules. I think it might be a little too micro managed for my liking, but I am getting some good tips for things to do with little ones while older ones homeschool. I am sure I will have more to say about this as I get farther into the book.

Another thing that I highly recommend is have a set naptime/quiet time for all children. Each day our younger children take a minimum of a 2 hour nap. The older children have to do something quiet like read books, color, watch a movie or play a video game. During this time, I am able to do lots of house hold chores, return emails, pay bills, make phone calls and occasionally take a nap myself. This proved very helpful especially when pregnant.

Something else we do is, all children go to bed at 8pm. The older children typically take books to their bed since they fall asleep a little later. My husband and I are able to have some alone time before it is too late which has been wonderful for our marriage. I tend to do the leftover chores, emails, and phone calls I didn't get to during the day at this time as well.

Overall, I would say I am far from perfect, but I think we do a pretty good job of managing everyone and our busy schedules. I hope this helps. Feel free to ask any questions that you might have and I will do my best to answer them.

Welcome!

So after going back and forth about whether or not to create a blog, I decided to go ahead and do it. I don't know how much I will be able to update considering how busy I am with a 5 week old baby and 4 other children, but I will try.

I am hoping to occasionally answer some questions that my husband and I get asked frequently. I also hope to give some tips and recommendations for products or ideas that have come in handy through trial and error with our 5 children. Feel free to ask me questions and I will try my best to answer them. I also am interested in all these wonderful giveaways that are out there and I hope to win a few :)

With that being said, Welcome to my blog Martin Mommy. I hope you enjoy!