There Are Four of Them

So we have gone from three kids to four kids... As far as the logistics of expanding our family...adding a fourth isn't really that different from when we added a third. With the exception of no longer having an empty seat in our van, it all has pretty much been the same as when we added our third dude. For us, going from one child to two was the most difficult. I wasn't yet aware of the fact that your heart grows and grows when you welcome another child. When I was pregnant with my second I worried that I wasn't going to love the next one as much as I loved my first. I was so used to dedicating my every moment to my oldest and didn't know how I was going to divide my time...make sure that everyone was included and loved and needs were met. But after having my second I realized that all of those fears were unfounded. I don't have the answer to exactly how it works but it just does. You have all the love to give and it just happens. Your heart just expands.

Certain things though about having a fourth have popped up that I wasn't expecting. It started while I was still pregnant. It seems as though announcing I was pregnant with a fourth wasn't as exciting as it was the first few times. I guess anything past three kids isn't the norm so we got lots of surprised reactions like really again? Many people thought we kept going for the sake of trying for a girl. People thought we were disappointed that we were having another boy. In public, out on walks, etc we get looks and comments. Mostly just comments like wow they are all boys...but some have a negative undertone like wow how sad she doesn't have a girl... or wow they are all so young.. etc. Sometimes it gets to me..other times not so much. The other morning I went to the grocery store with the three youngest and we were getting looks like if I brought the circus in. They weren't even unruly or misbehaving. So many people think that my husband looks really young... younger than he is.. and when he pops up that he has four kids, the looks and surprise he gets is pretty comical.

Sure having multiple kids that are so young ... gets chaotic.. gets loud.. is very tiring. Changing so many diapers.. or when they all get sick.. Feeding them all .. our grocery bill is interesting to say the least.. the worry and stress over doing things right.. raising them as the individual little person that they are.. sure it can be overwhelming...making sure that each one feels special rather than just part of a herd..

But for every negative or hard aspect to raising kids, there is double the positive ones. Sometimes triple.

Four kids in, we still have so much to learn in this parenting gig. But we do it.. Having children is not for everyone... having 2, 3, 4, or 12 kids is not for everyone.. but for us.. each one of these little beings were wanted..hoped for.. and prayed for... and we are just in awe that God has blessed us with these dudes...