Life With 5 Kids Under 7

What is it like having five kids under the age of seven? Extremely busy! How are we adjusting? We're still trying to find our new groove, and so far I've been doing lots of baby-holding and not much house-cleaning (or blogging, you may have noticed)! But this time will pass quickly and I'll never have it back again, so I'm trying to enjoy it and not worry about the house. We have some wonderful friends who have helped us with meals, for which our whole family is so very thankful. :-)

When our hands are busy with the baby, Ted and I have found ourselves delegating more to the older kids. This season of life has brought new responsibilities and more independence for them. They are not losing their chance to be kids, but they're growing and entering a new phase that provides an opportunity to be contributing members of the family, not that they weren't before, but it is even more important now and they can take a certain pride in that.

One thing that's been nice is that I have two baby-holders this time around that I haven't had in the past. When F was born two years ago, my oldest, H, was still four years old, and although she enjoyed holding the baby, she couldn't quite be trusted to be left for more than a few seconds. This time, H is 6 1/2 and G is 5 1/2, and both girls have been a huge help. If I need to throw in a load of laundry or make lunch, one of them can usually be counted on to hold baby J, even if she starts fussing a little. H is great at "shushing" her and she stays calm even when she gets spit-up on! G is especially patient and the fussing doesn't seem to bother her at all. She sings to her, rocks gently and talks to her, helping her to find her pacifier. "Don't worry, mama," she'll say, "I've got her, you just finish. She's fine with me." (Click through to my blog to see the cute video of G and J below--it's short).

So what is our house like with five kids so close in age? Loud. Messy. Crazy. Chaotic. Busy. Fun. Full of love. We are loving it and we wouldn't change a thing!