Never Ask Why – Life With 6 Kids

So, Jo is pregnant.  But, am I?  Joe and I buy a pregnancy test that very night.  The next morning I run downstairs to the bathroom.  We’ll leave out a few details here.  I wait the wait.  I have waited this wait way too many times.  And every time I do this I come out of the bathroom depressed.  Not this time!  This time I look at the test and see the positive.  I start shaking uncontrollably.  I walked upstairs where Joe was still slumbering.  I wake him with what must have been the biggest grin I have ever grinned.  Tears run down his face.  It has finally happened!  Joe and I are expecting our very own baby. 

But wait – this has happened before.  Yes, twice before.  This time felt different.  This time there was no clomid, no injections, no pressure.  We already had 4 kids.  

OMIGOD – I was pregnant.  What the H***!?!

So, I start my life with 4 kids.  We start getting into a daily routine.  The trips to all the fun places are over – thus the honeymoon has ended.  What the hell do I know about raising kids?  About the same as any other new parent – maybe a little less.  But when you bring a baby home from the hospital they don’t have the ability to move around like 4-8 year olds do.  When you put them to bed they stay there.  They may scream but they stay in bed.  Now i’ve got all these kids I have to bathe and get to bed.  I soon learn that bedtime sucks.  At the time Joe was working second shift and I was working first shift.  That meant getting these 4 kids to bed was all my responsibility.  How do you get kids to stay in bed?  How do you get them to be quiet.  Will they ever go to sleep?  I just wanted a bit of quiet time before heading off to work the next day. 

At the time we lived in a cape cod home.  The kids slept on the main level and Joe and I had a room upstairs.  So the kids would sneak out of their rooms and watch the TV that I was watching.  They would get up and pester me about all kinds of things.  I was losing my patience – and fast!

After court was over my dad and I drove back to our family farmhouse.  We had to make arrangements to pick them up from the foster parents.  In the meantime, the rain was pouring down in bucketfuls.  I didn’t think we would get down our road due to all the flooding.  It was touch and go.  But we finally managed to get out of the flood zone.  We got our kids and started heading off to Ohio.  My dad drove the van while I rode in the backseat with my kids.  My kids.  We were going to meet Joe and my mom about a half hour away from our house.  That way Joe and I could drive our kids to their new home together. 

Mom and Joe had been cleaning up our house and preparing for the kids arrival.  They got a nice welcome home sign put up for them.  I could hardly wait to get the kids there.  This was the beginning of a whole new life.

As we continued our visits throughout the summer we discovered that the kids were always full energy.  We also discovered they are very creative.  One time they gave Joe a makeover.  Another time they spent hours happily playing with a piece of rope and a couple tree stumps. 

We tried to make the trip down to see them every other weekend.  It wasn’t always easy.  We had to make arrangements with the foster mom and Brooke since one of them had to be with us at all times.  And then there was the 5 hour drive (each way).  And with the work schedules we would often be down there for just a day and a half.  On top of that we were still waiting for the mother’s last court date to be set.  We were constantly reassured that we would be granted custody of the kids but their are no real guarantees.  We were on pins and needles.