Cherished Moments in The Chaos

The cherished moments in the chaos of it all are so worth it. 

Worth the daily ding to self. 

Dying to my urge to just raise my voice and demand silence! 

Dying to my desire to have a spotless home, well dressed children who are abnormally highly educated knowing bunches of random useless facts, and organic meals and snacks beautifully plated on the kitchen table all while pregnant, in high heels with shaved legs. 

Haha!

Crap! I forgot how to shave legs...

But the mornings I hear my toddler wake up far too early, then don't hear him at all only to find him snuggled in his older sister's bed with his favorite board book perfectly content and loved make tears of gratitude come to my eyes. 

The afternoons when my let's-destroy-everything-and-everything-is-a-weapon boy plays gently and peacefully with my quiet-suck-my-thumb-I'm-a-bit-of-a-loner middle child while I work on future blog postings makes me take back any thoughts of believing what others think: we're crazy for having this many kids. 

Everyone has a playmate, a snuggle buddy, a reading pal, someone to tie their shoe or zip their jacket, someone to take a bath with or have a late night conversation with, someone to giggle hysterically on the porch while hiding under a blanket with. 

And the quiet still evenings when Alex and I crawl into bed and can barley keep our eyes open, we hold each other in our arms and dream of what our kids will be like when their older and swap stories that are precious and will probably be overshadowed by the adventure that will come the following day:

What will they become? 

What amazing traits do we see the Lord placing into them and how can we cultivate them? 

How many times did Elias mirror his dad that day in the way he stood, the food he asked for, what made him excited? 

What amazing deep truth did Alecia discover as she was reading her Bible today and applied it to her life?

what hilarious off-the-wall thing did Hayven come up with today?

How many times did Ahavah run from one room to another with her arms up like a princess?

Did Aryeh really say a sentence that advanced?

And did you feel the baby kick you just now? 

Oh, I wonder what she'll be like! 

I'm so excited to have a baby girl again!

It's such an amazing adventure! :)