Life with 5 Boys

Life with 5 boys keeps you on your toes.  Especially when one of the 5 boys is a toddler.  It has been nice to have extra eyes to watch him but it hasn’t seemed to deter his curiosity about what is in every drawer, closet or countertop in the house.  However, Titus is not the only boy to keep out of trouble.  The second day we were home, Silas fell of his scooter (that he had learned how to ride the day before) and broke his wrist!  Not knowing his threshold of pain yet we had no idea if he was crying because he was tired or if something was truly wrong.  When he didn’t stop crying after about 1/2 hour we decided it must be serious and took him to the immediate care center.  They took x-rays and put it into a splint but it wasn’t until the next day that we found out it was broken.  Then we had to wait a few days to get into the orthopedic doctor.  Those days were the worst because all of the things that Silas had just discovered; the scooter, trampoline,and bicycle were off limits while he had the splint on.  However, he got a huge grin on his face after he got his cast and I told him he could go back to doing all of those things again!

While we were at the immediate care center I was asked a question that I’ve never been asked before but has come up in conversation since then.  The receptionist checking me in took one look at our family that filled 1/2 the waiting space and said, “How do you do it with all of those boys?”  I laughed and said that it was only my 2nd day so I wasn’t sure yet.  Since then I have come to realize 2 things that have made my time easier right now during this transition.  I try to go to bed early and get up early to spend time with God.  Without His encouragement everyday I would have had a nervous breakdown by now.

I think we are coming to the end of our honeymoon period.  The boys are starting to feel more comfortable around one another and therefore are beginning to bicker like brothers.  I know this is normal but it can sometimes be exhausting to always be “on your game” when trying to help them work things out in a polite way.  I can tell that Asher and Silas also feel more comfortable with Brian and I as well.  We have had a few times that we have had to go over rules and boundaries again.

Yesterday, Garrett asked me if I thought we would ever go back to Ethiopia again.  Of course I want to go back, I said but I then quickly added that right now was not the time to ask me if we were going to adopt again!  Things are actually going better than I would have ever dreamed but just like a mom with a newborn, the labor pains are still fresh in my mind.

It makes my heart soar to see all of these boys in my back yard playing together.  All different shades of color and from different backgrounds and experiences.  Thanks be to God who makes all things possible!  He puts the orphans in families and blends us together until we can’t see the differences only the most important similarity, that we are all God’s children.

Thanks for following us on our journey to adopt more children.  Being brutally honest with myself, I know that more blog posts will be few and far between.  Signing off for now to go enjoy life with my 5 boys!