Not Too Shabby!

The older kids have been home (out of school) for 3 weeks now (I think...). And we've hit Summer HARD.

We've taken the kids fishing at the lake (total blast!):

Went to a (minor league) baseball game:

Jeff left for Minnesota on a business trip last Friday so I took the kids and drove to Central Oregon to visit my birth-Mom and family. They hadn't met Fischer yet so it was extra fun. Also? I totally tried my hand at tennis for the first time while we were there and really (REALLY!) loved it! We spent 3 days there and just got back on Monday.

Right when we got home we jumped back onto the busy-wagon. Tuesday morning I signed the older kids up for Vacation Bible School for the rest of the week (the little boys and I have been enjoying that time doing important things...like going to Target and Starbucks). Oh, and it was library night at the kids' school on Monday night - so we went to that and stocked up on some good reads for the week.

Jeff will be home on Friday and who knows what we'll do for the rest of the weekend, but I'm sure it will be adventurous!

I'm loving this summer - and especially loving having my baby boy OUT so that we all get to enjoy it with him, too! I can't believe I'm blessed enough to have THIS be what I do "for a living." I love (love LOVE!) being a Mommy to these kids!

ONE MONTH (already!?)

I would apologize for the lack of blogging lately but I'm not going to since the reason I've been absent is that I've been busy completely enjoying my family - and really there's nothing more important than that.

I will however take a minute second to update you on how freakishly rapid the time is flying by - and how our son (remember, there was a new one a while back?) is already a whole month old today.

Someone stop the madness!

So here are a few shots of an impromptu picture shoot (I'm not even cool enough to call what I take "photos") from this afternoon (taken about an hour after my amazingly talented bestie who-happens-to-also-be-a-photographer left our house - you'll see the photos she took soon!).

On the list for today? Make list.

First day of summer break for the kids is TODAY! That means our Summer Bucket List will be drawn out on on a big poster-board and we'll have a great time figuring out all the fun things we want to do over the next two and a half months together.

Goals will be set and crossed off as our amazing summer gets underway and each item on our list gets accomplished.

I can hardly wait - I'm SO ready to have a GREAT time with ALL of my kids (and husband, obviously)!

{{And for the record? Things like "changing diapers a gazillion times a day, staying up all night with a tummy-aching baby, and losing baby weight" will NOT officially be on the list.}}

Living.

Right now no matter how tired my body is, how loooooooooong my to-do list is, or how tall the laundry pile is, the most important thing in this moment is a game of "Memory Match" with my sweet Jack.

...And suddenly, even amidst all the chaos, all is right in my world.

It just got REAL up in here.

Okay, so you know how my last post was all, "Oh, we just had a baby and everything is going fantastic and he's perfect and we love him and everything is all roses, rainbows, sunshine and skittles?"

It is... sort of.

He is awesome.

But honestly? I'm tired.

These days (and nights!) are LONG, especially since I'm filling a lot of the time questioning every decision I'm making regarding Fischer's scheduling, feeding, sleeping... everything. I don't remember my other kids having tummy issues like he does and it makes me feel, well, pretty clueless actually.

I drove all the way into town yesterday (a 45 minute drive) with Jack and Fischer just so I could go to one store and buy some organic gas relief for his little tummy, some Mother's Milk Tea and Alfalfa supplements to help with milk production (just in case he's not getting enough milk and that's why he's so seemingly mad at me all the time).

I know this is my fourth baby, but honestly I feel like a rookie here. I'm probably just super tired, and not giving myself any grace whatsoever, but I forgot how hard this "beginning" part can be sometimes. I forgot how hard it is to live off of little-to-no sleep and one of the side effects is little-to-no patience for my older children, which kills me. I don't want to be the cranky Mommy who the kids only approach cautiously because there is no consistency in my responses to them.

I know that it will get better (RIGHT?) and things won't feel so heavy like they do right now in the newness of it all. The kids will survive if only because they have a Dad and grandparents who are filling in the huge gaps I'm leaving in my wake and I will survive eventually and we will all get through these first few weeks. Pretty soon it will be wonderful weather and we will be able to get out of the house more and enjoy and appreciate the sunshine, the seemingly endless possibilities that "Summer" always brings, new adventures, and each other.

I'm not trying to get any sympathy votes, I'm just trying to keep it real around here. Yes, our son is still awesome. Yes, I still think I've had the most amazing recovery ever. Yes, I still think I am beyond blessed to have the honor of even being the Mother to these four crazy sweet kids. I'm just realizing that each day is going to have to be taken moment by moment and that I'm going to have to give myself a lot of grace getting through each and every one of them.

This parenting schtick is humbling, you guys. Really, really.

Suddenly there were six.

Yeah, I suck.

It's been 12 days since our amazingly awesome son was born and I haven't posted a single sentence about it here.

So sorry!

We ended up having a c-section early (at 37 weeks) and everything went so much better than I ever could have expected, which was such a wonderful surprise. The surgery, the recovery, everything. (And Jackie, the amnio wasn't near as bad as I was expecting... although Jeff did say he was fully expecting me to pass out from being so freaked out.)

So anyway, at 7:55am on Tuesday, May 22nd, our son, Fischer Michael Eastburn was born - and he is just perfect (if I do say so myself). 8 pounds 5 oz, 20 inches long. Perfection.

[I promise to add more pictures as soon as I can figure out why (on earth!?!) my camera won't let me upload pics onto my computer. So frustrating!]

Like I said before, the recovery has been a breeze. This was my fifth abdominal surgery (none of which have been a tummy tuck - unfortunately) so I was fully expecting to have an extended and super slow recovery, but I've really been blessed this time around and it's been so, well, easy!

Fischer is doing great. He's just perfect. We're getting our days and nights (finally) figured out and he's now sleeping though the night (besides waking up every 3-4 hours to eat).

The older kids are loving him. There's been a bit of finding-my-place-in-the-line-up from the older boys a little, but nothing horrible. Natalie absolutely LOVES the baby and would do anything and everything to raise him herself if she were allowed - it's been wonderful to have so much help and love all around.

Oh, and I had forgotten how Jeff is a TOTAL baby hog. If he's home, no one else is holding the baby. I'm glad I'm nursing or I'd never get to hold my child on the weekends...

You guys? I am now the mother to FOUR kids. F.O.U.R. (!!!!) That is just crazy.