Gong Show

You should have been at Superstore today around 5pm.
That's where I was.
With my kids.

It was a gong show.

Newborn screaming in my arms.
Toddler trying to crawl out of cart.
Four year old pushing the cart into walls and people.
Big girl begging to hold baby, insisting that she won't move a muscle till she gets her way.
Bigger girl trying to parent her siblings but really only heightening the craziness...

Not sure what groceries I actually got?

Oh you should have seen us.
You totally missed it because it was a one time thing. {I hope}

Can you "order in" your groceries?
I sure wish I could.

The First Two Weeks: From My Phone

Today Cambria is two weeks old.  

Two weeks already!

Here are some photos from the last two weeks off my phone.  The phone is around and often more easily accessible than the camera.  Sometimes the photos are random but I like a little randomness every once in a while.

Day 2

Still hanging out in the bed, letting the rest of the world go on without us.

It's amazing how life "slows down" when a baby comes.  I mean, life does not actually slow down when you add a 6th kid to the mix but for a few days everything kind of stood still for me.  While the rest of the family went about their business, I stayed home and bonded with my newborn.

Those first days are so precious!!

Day 5

Getting a bit of sun with big brother.

I love this photo, can you see her little sock-foot?  

Caleb sat there for about 10 minutes helping her make her "yellow" go away:)

"hello brother!"

Second outing.

Our vehicle is so full!

It takes us a really long time to get out the door!

Cambria is so tiny in her car seat:)

Snuggles with Maddie.

All three of the big girls are really helpful.

When I need to get dressed, make dinner or have a shower I have three very willing baby holders.

Mailee is my most willing helper.

She grabs diapers for me.

She brings me water.

She can swaddle the baby.

Look how confident she looks holding the baby!

The evening routine involves a wide awake baby, lots of fussing and nursing.  Once she falls asleep she sleeps most of the night.  She only wakes up to eat once.  Such a good girl but from 8-10pm when all I want to do is sit down and put my feet up girlfriend is high maintenance!!

I am thankful Mike is home and helpful during these hours.

{look how tiny and cute she looks in her Daddy's arms!}

I am looking forward to her learning to go to sleep at night and play during the day!

This is how our little lady sleeps.

Mouth WIDE open:)

Testing out sister's crib.

Eventually this will be Cambria's crib and Cait will move into a big girl bed.

I am not rushing this event.  Cait likes her crib and I like that she can't get out!

Looks like Cambria isn't too keen on the idea of the crib either:)

Day 12

First meal out at a restaurant, first chiropractic event.

The whole family came to Mike's community dinner.  We made it there on time with everyone dressed.  I was happy about that!

Cambria got passed around between the three girls and myself and we were all able to eat and enjoy the night out.

Day 14

First tummy time.

She loved being on her tummy so much that she fell asleep and slept for 3 hours like this on the couch as all the kids played loudly around her in the living room.

I am extremely upset that two weeks have already flown by.  I am so fortunate to have gotten to have 6 newborns all to myself.  That is a lot more babies than most people get to enjoy.  I still want to bottle this one up and keep her tiny forever!  I can't get enough of her sweet smell, the way she snuggles in when I hold her, that little milk tongue...She is just precious!!

Caleb Loves Cambria

Caleb has taken a much bigger interest in the baby than I expected.  He asks to hold her all the time and he is really sweet with her.  Caleb is a really loving boy who wants to be heard and included and appreciated.  Often the girls gang up on him and leave him out.  Other times I target him as "the problem" because he is the loudest and most rambunctious of the bunch.

My precious boy!  I want him to grow up in this home feeling loved and accepted and treasured.  

 Scroll down to see his cute video.  He asked me to take a movie of him holding the baby.  He watches the girls make their school movies to display their work all the time.  So cute how he introduced himself just like the girls do:)

K, I just have to say, our awesome, fabulous hairdresser had a baby 2 days before me.  

Our whole family's hair is lost without her!!

{In case you were wondering if we were going for the Beiber look or something,}

Cait talks "Merkin Ido"

Caiters is so grown up now that baby is here!  She is saying more words/sentences every day and she cracks us up all the time with her funny toddler ways.

She seems no worse for the wear after handing over the baby crown to "new baby"

She still needs Mommy for a little snuggle and some hair:)

Baby visiting in Cait's crib.

My Daughter's Eyes

Martina McBride sings the most beautiful song about having daughters.

I have lots of daughters.

Often I am overwhelmed with listening to them all, making it fair, clothing them, doing hair, organizing all their stuff...

I imagine it will even get more challenging.

Anyways, this song brings me to tears every time I hear it.

I have all these cute photos that the kids have snapped over the last few days so I thought I'd lump them all together with a very nice song that speaks to my "mother's heart":)

In My Daughter's Eyes

In my daughter's eyes, I am a hero.
I am strong and wise,
And I know no fear.
But the truth is plain to see:
She was sent to rescue me,
I see who I wanna be, in my daughter's eyes.

In my daughter's eyes, everyone is equal,

Darkness turns to light,

And the world is at peace.

This miracle God gave to me,

Gives me strength when I am weak.

I find reason to believe, in my daughter's eyes.

And when she wraps her hand around my finger,

Oh, it puts a smile in my heart.

Everything becomes a little clearer.

I realise what life is all about.

It's hanging on when your heart has had enough;

It's giving more when you feel like giving up.

I've seen the light: it's in my daughter's eyes

In my daughter's eyes, I can see the future.

A reflection of who I am,

And what will be.

And though she'll grow and, some day, leave:

Maybe raise a family,

When I'm gone, I hope you'll see,

How happy she made me,

For I'll be there, in my daughter's eyes.

Loving my newest girl.  Completely soaking in the hours that I have gotten to spend alone with her over this past week.  We are just getting to know one another right now, I can't wait to see her own little personality unfold!

She's Cordless!

Cambria Meets Some Friends

Kind of a lame title for this post since I got exactly ZERO photos of actual friends today:(

I was chatting.

And nursing.

But really friends did come and we visited and my teensy girl was a very nice girl, snuggling in to whomever was holding her.

Here's a rundown of the day

First bath (Tam and I were both fully engrossed in bathing baby, no photos were taken during that portion of the process)

Here she is in her towel.

Clean Baby!

"Thanks Aunty for helping me get clean!"

My girls decided having people over to meet the baby was reason enough for a color scheme.  I'd say I trained them well:)  We got a little family photo before the friends arrived. (Clearly it is not a full family photo because Mike is not in it.  He is in Colorado for a conference.  Caleb represented the "blue" all by himself today and did a great job:)

Doll baby in the pink suit I picked up at the consignment store yesterday.  

Couldn't have our princess in green or yellow for one more day!!

Having a little snooze on Alana's lap.  This is the ONLY photo with a guest!

Ok, I just had to share a few pics of the girls working hard this morning to make cupcakes.  They really wanted to have some treats. (again, trained them well:) 

They did the icing themselves and did a great job.  I wanted to get my hands in there so badly but they had it all covered!!

Even Maddie wouldn't let me help.

Cute stuff!

It was a fun day.  I really appreciate that people took the time to come.  I appreciate that my sisters made it happen behind the scenes, making sure the kids still got lunch, getting drinks for everyone and even doing a bit of plumbing. (don't ask, let's just say me and the kitchen sink are NOT friends)

Baby's 6th Day

We went to the midwife today for a one week visit.  She weighed in at 6 pounds, 14 ounces.  The midwife asked a few questions pertaining to me and also the baby.  She checked baby's heart and lungs, agreed her cord was "about to fall off" and pronounced the baby "perfectly healthy".  Six perfectly healthy babies.  What a wonderful thing that we often take for granted!

Leaving the house was slightly less traumatic in comparison to yesterday.  I wore the same outfit so that alone made the morning smoother!

Here's the little sweetie on day 6.  She is mesmerizing.  I can't stop looking at her, especially when she is awake and seems to be interacting.   We love her so much!!!

Keeping It Real

This morning we took our first outing as a family of 8.

To the grocery store to get diapers.

Before we left the house, I got over heated blow drying my hair, I had too many layers of clothing on yet when I tried to change, nothing fit.  I have to make sure my shirt can work for nursing.  My maternity clothes are too big but my regular clothes are too small.  

Cait was dropping little pieces of Playmobil all over the house, a toy that I really like to try to keep together and not lose the pieces.  Caleb was running wild and I could see that Maddie was wearing summer clothes on this cold day.

I knew we still had to put the car set together and the baby needed to be changed, nursed, burped...

Not to mention I had no list and we were headed to the grocery store.

It was all too much and I gave myself a time out in the closet...which turned into a meltdown complete with tears.

We still went.

I still changed my Facebok status to "First outing as a family of 8"

 I did't get a picture of my girl on her first outing.  I forgot.  It wasn't the Norman Rockwell image I had in my head of this occasion.  Kinda disappointing.  But pretty much reality for the moment.

When I got home, someone had written "you are like a modern day miracle" under my status.  Super nice {and very clever and funny} comment, I was completely flattered but felt a teeny bit guilty that perhaps I sweep the mess to the side and just show the good stuff a little too often.

It's good to keep it real every once in a while.

We should all be able to admit when life is hard or disappointing.

None of us live up all the time:)

So here's my current reality.

Let's tour my house in it's current state.

 Kitchen

Pretty sure this mess is from more than one meal.

Living Room

{here are two of my kids...there are two more playing downstairs, one at Grandma's house and one on Lego.com}

Kid Bedroom

My Bedroom

In An Attempt To Freeze Time

My new baby is teensy.  

I mean, just a little peanut.  We can't get over how small she is.

But I know how it goes.

I've been here before.

I am going to kiss her tiny face a few times, feed her, dress her, do some school, clean up, make a few meals,  run here, go there, take a breath and look again and she'll be walking, then talking, reading, then rolling her eyes...

There's no stopping her, she needs to grow, but I can do my best to document her smallness now so that I can remember later just how much she used to need me:)

Little Brown Bear my Grandma made when Mikayla was a baby.

{Which seems like about yesterday}

Cambria and Little Brown Bear

Snoozing with Little Brown Bear.

Babe's Third Day

Mailee and Cambria