Well at least if I wasn’t going to blog at all in December, there was a nice post to look at all month long. That trip (see below) really was a memorable one. Also, we’ve been home about 48 hours, and I have lots of pictures on my camera, at least I hope I do, but can’t seem to find it right this minute — though I did find an assortment of pipe cleaners and a single-serving container of butter from the airplane while looking for it, if that gives you any idea. Hopefully I’ll find the pictures and the gumption to share Christmas memories and our first big trip home sometime soon.
But, today, we’re taking it slow. As weird as summer in January is, and as hot and sweaty as I felt arriving here (I don’t think your body is meant to go from the teens to the 80s in one day), there is something totally brilliant about summer vacation from school immediately following Christmas. There is nearly nothing on my calendar. No pressure to get everyone back in a routine, nor get everything organized all at once, nor even get Christmas decorations put away. And it’s a good thing, because even though I went to bed at a normal time, my jet-lagged body was utterly comatose until around nine this morning. And thanks be, my kids weren’t up until more like 10, even Thomas!
After I’d rolled my sleepy self out of bed and had a little cereal, I sat on the couch catching up on a few favorite blogs I haven’t read in weeks, and after a little while, I heard stirrings upstairs. But instead of coming right down and demanding food and attention, I realized after a few minutes that the big boys were READING to Thomas and Mary. Could there be anything better than that?
I’ve thought quite a bit about this big family of ours, which feels normal to us, but is astounding to many. (I swear people stare at us even in Utah, which makes me wonder how it feels if you have a really big family, and PS my friend Shireen who’s pregnant with #4 keeps getting asked if she’s a Mormon, which she isn’t, and I think it’s pretty funny.) Here’s something I’ve thought about lately — when you have another child, it is true that your time as a mother is further divided. It’s just simple math. It’s not possible to have the same amount of individual time to pay as a mother with only one or two children would have. However, and this is the good part, your children have the additional benefit of their relationships with each of their siblings. And the older they get, the more I feel that these relationships more than make up for the loss of my time. Imagine my cute little Thomas with four mentors, guiding him through life — how lucky is he?
Of course more siblings sometimes means more bickering, but there are little miraculous moments every day and I want to remember them.
liz 
Sorry…I know that this isn’t what this post is about, but I just have to say Mary’s dress is beyond adorable (and her in it!) and your boys are getting so tall!
I got your adorable Christmas card.
I am so sorry I didn’t send you one – I didn’t know where to send it! The return on your card said Oregon? So I have one here for you – maybe you’ll get it by summer- our summer that is…
Hope you get back in the swing of things soon.
By the way, I am about to pop with my fourth. Last summer when I told one of my neighbors I was pregnant she said, “oh girl, I’m so sorry!!” Pretty funny.
We are really excited and yes, we are one of the biggest families in the neighborhood.
Danielle, would you believe I bought that dress when Mary was about one year old? I just loved it and it was the only size they had left. And yes, Sam is rapidly approaching my height with Ben right on his heels. It’s a little bizarre, but we’re getting used to it.
Valerie, I love your story about your neighbor’s comment. I’ve heard a lot of those. Someone once suggested I just get a dog — I was already pregnant, so not sure why they thought it was helpful!