...and along came 4 more.

When we found out we were pregnant with our first we were a little surprised. We weren't trying, but we also weren't not trying. We were about halfway through our second year of marriage and I think we were at a point where we could handle a baby together, and I say that because I definitely see the benefit in waiting to have children for at least a year after marriage because getting used to each other is a lot of work for a year. This is just my personal experience, and I recommend it. I have friends who got pregnant on their honeymoon and while it all works itself out {usually} it was hard.

I'll spare you the details, but two weeks overdue and after a 38 hour labor Maxwell Jared entered our world.

And ROCKED it.

I was highly emotional...lack of sleep and I had problem after problem breastfeeding. I HATED every moment of it and I remember looking at Justin one night and saying,

"What were we thinking? We can't handle this!" 

Of course I was completely smitten with our 10lb baby boy, and he brought much joy, but having a child for the first time is something you just can't understand until it actually happens to you.

I kept thinking, why didn't anyone tell us this would be so hard? So, I tell everyone, it's hard. It sucks, but it gets better, SO much better. 

And it did. A month in and we were getting the hang of it, and slowly, month my month, things got easier. 

And soon you forget about all of it and have another baby. The second time around was SO much better because we knew what to expect. 

And then we had three more after that. 

We do live in a society that kind of frowns upon big families. 

If you have more than two kids {preferably a boy and a girl} then you are considered a little nutty. But more than 3 or 4, you may be certifiably insane. 

There are days where I feel like I could lose it, but for the most part, having a big family is a lot of fun. Will I ever regret having this many kids. NEVER. Does it make a lot of things in life more challenging. Yes, but it also is exciting. There is rarely a dull moment in this house. I always wanted a busy home and honestly, I love having people over in our home...and  one of my hopes is as our boys get older they will bring all their friends to our house to hang out. 

It's been more challenging living away from our families, we don't have help readily available, but we've been blessed to have awesome friends here who are always willing to help out if we need it.  

Having kids changes everything. It is hard, sometimes downright awful,  exhausting, sacrificing, and challenging but it is also so rewarding, so beautiful and so fun.