When I was younger, a long long time ago, I thought I'd be a lawyer by the time I was 28. I'd have a book published by the time I was 30. I would have been to Europe at least twice and vacationing on an island at least once a year. Maybe I would have even lived in NYC and been a downtown girl. At 16, 30 sounded like a good time to possibly look for a husband, perhaps start thinking about children. Well...have you taken a look at my life recently?
3 months ago my wonderful husband of 2 1/2 years, Dave, and I welcomed our 5th child. Jacob is our second child together. We have a yours, mine, and ours home that in the past 4 years has meshed into just, Ours. Here's the rundown. Dave had Mason, then 5 now 9. I had Isabella, then 4 now 8 and Isaac, then 1 now 5. We had Aubrey now 3 and of course baby Jacob David. And I'm not 30 for another 3 weeks!
I had pictured a white collar, lawyer, teacher, Wall Street kind of guy for me. I wanted intelligent conversations full of political debates and heated religious discussions with trips into the big city for dinners and dancing. I wanted to sit up at night with librarian glasses and chic sweatpants (is there such a thing) editing my book while my husband sat in a leather arm chair going over business reports. Remember this is my 16 year old me before you laugh. Instead I married the wrong man at 20, had 2 beautiful children, got divorced and married my For Real Husband, Dave. A blue collar welder who eats wings and drinks beer and drove a pick up truck on our first date. He didn't even have an email account. Gasp!
It's a wild, crazy, fun, loveable family. I wouldn't trade this life for a hundred pairs of Manolo Blahniks or a thousand Vera Wang dresses. Well I'm only saying that since Vera Wang now makes a line for Kohls that even a mom on my budget can manage! These kids can drive me bananas and occasionally I want to lick the paint off the walls because even with 5 young children life can get boring. But the love in their eyes and the wonder of their smiles makes every pair of sandals a la Payless worth it.
So here I am on a Thursday night at 11pm lounging on the sofa. Isabella and Isaac are at their dads, Aubrey and Mason are sleeping, and Monkey (Jacob) is laying next to me making his cute little squeaks that only an infant can make. I have a million things to do tomorrow and have to be up super early but this is the only quiet time I will have for the next 24 hours and I'm determined to soak up every second of it. Plus I have to wait for Dave's call at midnight when he get's his "lunch" break.
I've been telling myself I would start blogging for the last 6 years and it finally hit me tonight that it's now or never. It's easier than writing emails to 40 different people who want updates on the kids or how Dave's new job is going or what our summer plans are.
This will be my 6th baby. It's just starting out in its infancy but promises to grow and flourish and take on a life of its own. Watch for it!
Fun in the Sun
