one week in: how we're doing overall.

We have now survived a full week at home with Callista, after being discharged from the hospital last Wednesday.

When Todd and I arrived home, we were greeted by handmade signs from the kids.  They were all so excited to have Callista home for good, and they've spent the week snuggling her (and/or poking her, as in the case of Rocco) and being generally enthused about the whole transition.

Todd and I are holding up pretty well, all things considered.  It's been so nice to have him home to help, and it's been good for him to have the week off of work to rest when he can during the day, since it definitely doesn't happen overnight. 

For all of Callista's glowing, amazing qualities, 'excellent sleeper' does not go on the list.  She does not sleep well unless she's on her tummy or being snuggled, and even then, two hours between feedings is about the absolute most we can expect at this point, and it's often closer to an hour.  Two nights ago, she ate four times between midnight and 5 a.m.  It's been pretty exhausting.  Thankfully, Todd has been great about making sure we're able to find time during the day for me to nap, so it hasn't gotten ahead of me (yet).

Once Todd goes back to work, my mom will take the big kids for a few days so that I can slowly transition to being on my own during the day with just the baby, which I'm so grateful for.  My goal is to continue to find time each day to nap while I can - once I have all six on my own, I'm not sure if I can make that happen as easily, so I'm going to make it a priority for at least the next week.

Recovery is going well.  I had set a goal to sit/lay down/rest as much as humanly possible for the first four weeks.  I'm not sure if I'll be able to make it that long, but this last week has been a success in that regard.  I have wonderful friends bringing meals most days, I've started having Amish products just delivered to the house, Todd has been on Big Kid Duty while I'm wrangling Callista and her monstrous appetite, and I seriously just change from one pair of jammies into the next pair of jammies.  So it's been a success in that regard.

(And I just have to take a moment to brag: on Thursday when I took her in for her next-day weight check after we were discharged, she hadn't gained any weight.  So the doctor asked us to come back on Monday to make sure she was gaining by then.  And thanks to her voracious eating habits, she gained nine ounces in those four days.  You grow, girl!)

All things considered, one week in and we're doing well.  I'm always anxious to get the first six weeks behind me because it seems to get easier from there, but things are at least headed in the right direction.  Now, if we can only figure out the magic code to turn her sleeping mode to "Very On," we should be all set.  Because isn't a sleeping baby the very best sight?

mommy date day.

This day took place a couple of weeks ago, and there is probably more pressing news I could be reporting on today, but there is ALWAYS pressing news with a newborn (such as how adorable she is when she sleeps, or how I'm just dying to tell you how good her head smells).  So I figured it's probably best to write about it now, before months fly by and I totally drop the ball on telling you about it at all.

The weekend before my due date, Todd and I arranged to make Saturday "Mommy Date Day" for the kids.  Todd held down the fort at home, and I got to take each of the kids out one at a time.  I started off the morning with breakfast with my biggest buddy.  I got an insanely good omelette (which is saying something, because I mostly hate how everyone else in the world cooks eggs).  Atticus got "Birthday Cake Pancakes" with frosting AND whipped cream AND sprinkles.  Also, he added syrup.  Also, a giant hot chocolate.  I about died from diabetes just watching the waitress set it on the table. 

But the fastest way to a man's heart is through food, and he felt looooved.  It was so fun, sitting in that booth and chatting away.  He's quiet and thoughtful and wants to serve in the military when he grows up.

Then Miss Penelope got a turn to head out with me.  She'd been begging to get to check out Barnes and Noble, so we browsed books and got Starbucks and she is absolutely my mini-me in so many ways.  (And absolutely her own amazing person in so many other ways.)  I am sooo excited to have a book-loving gal pal to mix it up with for many years to come.  And she's going to be a self-sustaining farmer-slash-author when she grows up, so you know I'm going to be tagging along and reading all her books and eating the bounty of her harvest and hoping to be just like her one day.

Finneas got his turn next, and he wanted a burger.  So we bypassed McDonald's (thank the good Lord I was able to convince him to go somewhere else) and headed to "Shakin' Bacon," as Finneas kept calling it.  He spent all of his time coloring and offering me his lunch and asking if I needed anything.  He has such a sweet, generous, caring heart.  He ordered sliders, but barely ate any of his food - he filled up on his shake and called it good.  But you know what?  Who cares.  Mommy date days are ones in which you throw insulin to the wind and party like it's 1999.

And then it was this tiny girl's turn.  She wanted ice cream.  And how.  So we went to THEEE Local Frozen Custard Place.  And she sat in silence, devouring her strawberry shortcake sundae.  Like, literal silence.  But once we got back in the car, girlfriend got chatty.  I love listening to her itty bitty voice, learning to voice such big-girl thoughts.

And with as little as Rocco is, he didn't go on a one-on-one date with me.  Basically every day for him is a one-on-one date with me.  He had opinions about whether or not I should be leaving the house without him, though.

Apparently, I owe him a Mommy date soon.

It was so wonderful connecting with each of the kids individually!  They're all so great, for so many different reasons.  I really, really love spending time with them - I like being around them.  Such great buddies to have!

the best thing about it all.

After I had Penelope, I had a (presumably) well-intentioned individual tell me that, now that I had a boy and a girl, I was free to stop having children!  I thanked her for her granted permission, then went about my merry way getting pregnant with Finneas.  She could not believe that I would want three whole children - THREE!  Then when I got pregnant with Laurelai, she reprimanded me for having more children than I could reasonably care for.  After all, a child can't possibly receive enough love and attention in a family that size!  It was pure irresponsibility on my part. 

(Luckily, by the time I got pregnant with Rocco, I think she'd just written me off as a nutcase and didn't say anything further.)

While her comments were the most direct I've received, I think that's a common misconception about large family life: that the kids are missing out on love and attention because there is apparently a fixed amount of those things, and the larger the number of kids, the smaller their individual slivers of the pie chart get.

The argument doesn't hold any water.  None whatsoever.  Because the thing is, love requires an object.  It has to be directed at something in order to exist at all.  It's miraculous that way - it isn't fixed; it grows as there are more objects at which it can be directed.  The more kiddos, the more love available to each one.  Children don't get lost in intentional large families; they get seen in ways they wouldn't have gotten to otherwise.  They get to love more, and they get to receive more love.

When Atticus was born, he got to come home to two people who were completely in love with him.  When Callista came home, she came home to seven people who are completely in love with her.  How is that worse?  How is she at a disadvantage?  I see my children shine when they have new objects of their love.  I see sensitive, excited, nurturing parts of them come to the surface.  I see their selflessness and compassion grow.  Just look at how they welcomed her here.

Penelope was head over heels to meet her baby sister; she even asked, "Do we get to keep her forever?!"

Laurelai is constantly asking to hold and cuddle Callista, and is dying to know when she can carry her around independently.  "When I am five, can I hold her not-on-the-couch?  When I am six?"

Finneas goes all quiet and awestruck around her.  He is such a to-the-hilt kid in every regard, but he gets so quiet and contemplative just looking at her.  He also asks to hold her frequently.

Atticus' name means 'fatherlike.'  He is chief of the tribe of the Mini Minivan Voorsts.  And he takes that seriously.  He watches over her and is completely enamored.  I just love the look that comes across his face when he looks at her.

Rocco is Rocco.  I honestly wasn't sure how he'd take to her, but he is GIDDY.  As soon as we walked in the door from the hospital, he started screaming, "BABY! BABY!" and running laps around the living room.  He's often so excited around her that he gets really rough.  (She's already been beaned in the head with an excellently aimed and well-intentioned, but underappreciated whiffle ball.)  But I love seeing the pure, innocent excitement of a brother loving on his new baby.

There is nothing like someone new to love to bring out the best, most loveable parts of the veteran members of the family.  It's why, when people ask me what I like best about large family life, I'm honestly able to answer that, hands down, the best part of it all is how many people there are to love, and how many there are who love you back.  It's a full, full life we live and I'm grateful for it.

W.U.W: 'Our First Week As A Family of Eight!' edition.

Well, I think you can probably guess what this week's highlight reel looked like.  But there were a few things that happened that weren't solely related to the arrival of Callista.

Last Friday was our last official day of school for the year (YAY!), and I spent most of the day finalizing school paperwork and working on the kids' portfolios.  While I'm still a little ways off from being totally done with them, I made some really productive headway, and they're looking adorable. 

(I mislabeled his grade and that should say 'Grade 2.'  I am clearly not on top of things to the extent that I'd like to be.)

I'll have to tell you more about the kids' year and their portfolios soon.  Maybe in July I'll do a few posts on our homeschool year, curriculum and routine as we gear up to start the new school year.  We'll see.

Friday night, we did something a little impulsive and weird - we met with our realtor to check out a house we were feeling kind of interested in.  Todd had found the listing online, and it looked really promising.  And we loved it in person!  But, long story short, seeing it and talking things through, it kind of solidified in our minds that we will probably be staying in our current house for the next couple of years, as far as we're able to foresee.  (Church planting life offers no sense of absolutes, so that's subject to change, but that's what we're envisioning right now.)  So it was kind of a bittersweet decision to come to, but it has my wheels turning for some inexpensive ideas to deal with our janky landscaping and the lack of light in our house as it is.

On Saturday, as I hadn't gone into labor yet, I was actually able to attend the composting workshop at the library that I had registered for.  (And my buddy Penelope went with me, too, so we got some quality girl-time in while we sat there listening about how to rot dirt properly.)  It was great, and they even gave out free compost bins to the attendees.  I'm not complaining. 

It's great timing to get started with a compost pile, too, as my raised beds seem to be in need of some help.  Because my beds were installed so late in the gardening season, we were pretty limited on the soil that was available for sale.  And though we amended it with compost and blood meal and bio-char and beneficial microfungus and all kinds of other weird stuff CCUA brought, it seems like we're going to have to work to build it up over the long haul.  Half of my tomato plants, all of my sweet potato slips, most of my squash and all of my okra are dead as a doornail.  Bummer.

Moving on to other news, you know how Sunday went for us - the kids and I were sick, then I went into labor Sunday night.  Since then, most of our news has revolved solely around Callista.  Whom I keep accidentally calling Lolo.  Or Rocco.

We all spent lots of time trying to sleep whenever we could...

...yawning...

...crying...

...and just staring at her.

I also spent a bunch of time reading, reading, reading.  Have you guys read this book?  Fascinating.  (I like starting an engrossing book when I'm in the hospital with a newborn - that way, when I'm losing sleep at weird times of the night, I at least have some little silver lining to look forward to doing while I'm up.  Survivalism.)

Both Callista and I have already been to the chiropractor for adjustments, and yesterday, Callista had her two-day checkup, so we've been out and about more than I'd like to be able to report by now.  The pediatrician is wanting me to bring her back in for a weight check next week.  The obsession with the baby scale is already starting.  Ugh.

And that was our very abundant, full, wonderful, hectic, overwhelming, perfect week!