The More The Merrier!

Picked up Adrian yesterday. Figured that was why his mom and dad were trying to get a hold of me. He does so well with my kids, and they were telling me that he looks for us when he comes home. He's over here quite a bit, and for a while (when they were both working) he was here all week and home on weekends. So really, it's no surprise that he's been calling Mike daddy and I mommy for some time now. He also calls them mommy and daddy, so I think that he just figures that we're all his mommy and daddy. He'll be 21 months on the 16th. Getting so big, talking more and more every day. It seems like every time he goes home, he comes back here with a new skill.
I thought when he was born it would be so hard to deal with him and my 4, but in reality it's easier dealing with 5 than it was going from 1-3, or 3-4. Really, going from 1-3 wasn't as hard for me as going from 3-4. Adding the twins when James was little was only really hard the first few weeks, when I was too sore to move much and sooooo sleep deprived that I wasn't always sure which kid I was trying to change and feed. Then, when I was able to get out of the house, since we lived about 5 blocks from great grandma and about 7-8 blocks from grandma, it got easier. We went to the park, we went for walks, we went to grandmas. Simple.
When the twins were almost 2, we had Gabe. Wow what a difference. We had moved, so we were about a MILE away from either grandma, and from great grandma. We were still close to a park, but it was such a hassle to get there. I still didn't have my license, so we had to walk everywhere. Caleb had just been diagnosed with autism the fall before (Gabe was born in March), so we were dealing with all that too. And on top of all that, Gabe never seemed to sleep. EVER. He nursed on demand it seemed like 24/7. He napped for about 20min at a time. He wasn't fooled by being stuck in a swing, or carseat. He wasn't having any part of grandma, grandpa, or daddy. It HAD to be mommy, all the time. He refused the bottle, sippy, pacifier. I'm sure that had a lot to do with it being harder adding him to the mix.
With Adrian, my kids were bigger. And while Gabe (and Caleb) are still quite a handful most days, they're easier now than they were then. Adrian was fine with the bottle, and does great with the sippy. He was and is fine with a pacifier. He sleeps, AND naps. Two things that Gabe didn't do. He's fine with crowds, which Gabe (and Caleb) was not.
Every child is different, and I suppose if Adrian was like Gabe or Caleb, then my life (and his parents') would be very different. It would probably be much harder.

The looks I get when I'm in public with my kids, and my "extras" are varied. Some people give me "the look". You know the look, the one that says, "WTH, don't you know how to stop at a couple" or worse. Of course, I give them looks back, lol, but most of mine are smiles. Looks that tell them that I know what causes it, and I LIKE IT! Picture this: Me and 7 kids. The oldest is 11, then twins @9, then 7, and almost 7, and 3 and almost 2. Wow. And then we met my sisters and their kids. 1 sis has 2 sons(7 and 8) and a stepson(8) that she had every other weekend. The other one has 2 a boy and a girl, Brianna is 2 and Christopher is 5. So the ages go: 11, 9, 9, 8, 8, 7, 7, 6, 5, 3, 2, 21mos. Can we say OMG!?!? Talk about getting stares! We can't get together much anymore, because my youngest sis moved to Missouri and my other sis works full time. But in the summer, its me and my 4, her and her 3, and at least 2 of the 3 extras.
I love my kids, and I love my "extras" as if they were my own. If I could, I'd have a few more. But I can't. So, I have my "extras", and my nephews and niece.
I'm sure this post is rambling, and probably blah, but I really just felt the need to babble for a while. It's been one of those days, and it was a long weekend as well.
Now I'm off to watch the President, he's on EVERY channel!