We are home in Carlsbad

The kids were so excited to be home in Carlsbad.  They constantly tell me how glad they are and have loved playing with long lost toys! It was like Christmas all over again but less expensive!  We have been slowly settling in and I am figuring out how to handle all my babes alone.  It has been crazy but okay.  I have learned that going to bed with a disaster for a house is okay and they it will be there when I wake up!  I have missed my live in laundry lady (Granee)!  I have been drowning in laundry since I got home with no end in sight!  Everything had to be washed from sheets to blankets to rugs!  Lots of laundry but I might find the end soon?! Emerson has adjusted to his life that is a bit neglected in nature pretty well.  He has to stay in his bouncer a lot for his own safety and poor baby rarely gets floor time but I don't think he minds too much.  He is such a mellow little guy!  Ava and Bennett are adjusting to sleeping in their beds and it has been a test for them and me.  More often than not I have 2 big babies in bed with me while I nurse the other one in the middle of the night which equals NO SLEEP!  But what is new!?  Overall, we are doing great and are happy to be home.  We were so grateful to have the wonderful help in Silver City for those many months and miss everyone terribly especially our Granee, Brookie and our Nett.

Sweet Emerson getting big and growing hair like crazy!  10 weeks already!

Chores, the forest and our BFFs...just another day!

Well, another month has past and we are still in Silver City.  I had some complications arise with my incision so we had to stay longer so I could heal.  We are hopefully headed home in the next week.  We have stayed busy with the usual day-to-day activities.  From doing dishes, to reading books to siblings to painting our faces with $30 tubes of lipstick, it is pretty normal for us!  I have enjoyed our stay in Silver and the kids have loved living across the street from their favorite people and having their Granee at their beckon call.  I am ready to be home and back to an "active" life for me.  Having 5 kids in 4 years never leaves a quiet or simple life but it is our life and we love every minute of it!

Dallin is our helper around the house.  He loves washing dishes and I would just assume he will continue to enjoy that chore for as long as it will last!

Clara our pretty girl!

Ava with her babies in their car seat!  She loves playing mommy and boy does she talk up a storm!  She is our most verbal child so far!

Bennett...need I say more!  The color looks good on him though!

Emerson is almost 2 months old and still has the sweetest personality.  He has just found his voice and smiles and talks to all who hold him.  He still sleeps best with noise around him, which is good because our house if anything but quiet!

Our trip to the "forest" as my kids call it!  Little ducks that followed their daddy around!  They loved it!  Ava was carrying her baby in her jacket to be like mommy (I had Emerson in the baby Bjorn!).  She is our little mommy and bosses everyone around.

A rare picture of Daddy on the blog.  He was enjoying the "forest" with his Clara!

Grandma Gertie loving on Emerson!

Our BFFs came to visit.  The kids loved every minute of them being here!  I think the kids wore them out!

A rare picture of Mommy on the blog too!.  Sweet baby Emerson!

Daddy, I miss your snoring!

Emerson is 1 month old now and I cannot believe how fast time has flown!  He is a joy of a baby.  Always clam and mellow.  He enjoys the chaos of our house and sleeps better in the middle of all the other babes playing and crying!  We are blessed to have him in our family.
The other kiddos never cease to amaze with their funny conversations and just plain silliness on a daily basis. for example, Dallin has been pretty vocal and with Mason being gone a lot, he talks up a storm when Daddy comes home.  Here is a few of the conversations Dallin has had with Mason:

Dallin: Daddy, I miss your spankings.  Mommy doesn't spank me as good.
Daddy: Do you want me to teach Mommy how to spank Dallin?
Dallin: No, that is okay Daddy!

Here is another funny statement from Dallin:
As Mason was putting them to bed the other night, Dallin told Mason, "Daddy sleep with me for a little bit, I miss your snoring!"

Never a dull moment in this house and I have to remind myself that these moments are precious and will disappear fast.  Mason called me the other day to say that he was listening to a program on the radio and a woman came on the line who was talking about her six kids ages 12 to 35 years old.  Mason made the comment that he would much rather have our situation where we have 5 kids 4 years old and under than hers because ours will be going through the same stages all at one time.  I don't know if I agree with that, I guess it just depends on the stage!  Even thinking of 5 teenagers at one time is extremely overwhelming!

Snow!

Life in the Mitchell house is as crazy as ever.  Currently I am typing this while Bennett is sitting on the counter surrounded by phones, cell phones, permanent markers, knives and other various items he shouldn't have.  And what am I doing?  Typing and ignoring the chaos!  This is our life and we love it.  I am feeling pretty good just tired and a bit sore.  The kids are good and healthy and we are counting our blessings.  Emerson is proving to be a very mellow baby.  We (especially me) are VERY grateful for this development.  I guess if the Lord was going to sneak in a "miracle" baby, he had better be mellow and good (so far!).

We are having a snow storm in Silver City right now and the kids braved the cold to eat snow, dig in the snow and get really cold!  They had a great time.  

Infant pics of Emerson

These pictures were done by our favorite photographer in Silver City.  Emerson was about 12 days old.  I love them.  I will post current pics of the babies soon.  My favorite pictures are the ones where we have 2 out of 5 crying!  It is so indicative of our lives! Enjoy!

Organization???

 A few words from the crazy mom of 5 babies.  Our lives have changed dramatically with the birth of Emerson.  You would think that adding only one baby to the mix of 2 sets of twins would be easy, but it has proven a challenge.  For one thing, I am nursing this baby and that takes an enormous amount of time.  It is not exactly relaxing for me yet and I feel a bit exposed with the eyes from the inquisitive four year olds in the house, but we are working through it.  Another challenge is schedule.  I was pretty strict with Dallin and Clara and their eating and sleeping schedule and I was with Ava and Bennett, but this baby has no schedule so life is interesting to say the least.  I am a person who does better with some kind of pattern and organization in my life (something Mason laughs at daily) but that is how I survive.  Life without a schedule is harder on me than my kids and I don't know how I'm going to survive it!

I HAD to post this picture of the 4 bums in the shower.  I love it and would put it on facebook but I don't know if Daddy would approve!

New idea

I have decided to use my blog as a journal in a sense.  I don't have a lot of time to write things down that I am thinking or what my children are doing so this seemed as good of place as any.  Currently I am listening to Ava cough in the next room while my mom is trying to get Bennett back to sleep and Emerson is quietly sleeping in his basket next to me.  I have 3 out of 5 children sick with the croup this week and it has been quite the evening.  We have had one baby throw up everywhere while I was nursing so Granee got to clean her up, another baby so miserable that he cannot settle down and a couple of 4 year olds who decided that listening to mom was optional today, so they went to bed in trouble.  It is a typical day in the Mitchell household!
As I am writing this, I realize that my babies are getting older really fast and though sometimes I think I want them out of this stage faster, I quickly realize that I would miss the need to be held and snuggled (all 5 at the same time of course), the silly conversations I have with Dallin and Clara everyday, the constant questions, the way Ava and Bennett are trying to communicate with their words now and how quickly they are adding new words every day and the love and quiet time (sometimes) I get from nursing Emerson.  I would and will miss this times very much.
So, even though I call my children "the monsters" to most people, they are my monsters and I love them with every fiber of my being.  I am blessed to be a mother.  It was all I every wanted for so very long.  And even though I believe the Lord to be crazy to send me 5 babies in 4 years, I will take them and cherish them and try harder every day to live up to that great responsibility of being a mom to so many "littles."  I may go crazy in the process, but I want everyone to know that I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.