Goodbye Summer!

Welp, summer is getting shorter these days and we are back to school. The kids are back into the swing of school, as you can see from the pictures. I always feel like we have just gotten into a good pattern when school creeps up around the corner. So instead of fighting at lunch and staying up too late, we are fighting at breakfast and staying up too late. I wish we had established a much better sleep routine earlier in the development of this family. Before marriage and children, I swore up and down that I would never let kids sleep in my bed and I would be firm on bedtimes. Enter Walker. Walker was a very light sleeper as a baby. As a toddler, I would have to lay with him until he fell asleep and then try to sneak away (he ALWAYS caught me, clearly being a klutz was NOT an advantage here). He then had a stage of night terrors. I am convinced the "terror" refers to the parent, because he never remembered these incidents, while Doug and I clearly remember being terrorized by his screaming and yelling. He has had a few other phases since then, but now he is pretty ok as long as someone is sleeping in close proximity to him. Since he is our oldest, how we handled each of his phases set a precedent for the other kids. Since he wandered in our room nightly for a long while, it became the norm for the others to try it. Now I have to eat my young and naive words as I admit there has been a child in my bed for the better part of 10 years. There may have been nights where the whole fam could be found somewhere in our room, via the floor, our bed, or wherever they could squeeze in. Then we gave into the constant pressure they put on us to have nightly "slumber" parties, which is sleeping in the living room. We have worked hard to reign that in and are on our way to a more typical bedtime routine. Typical, but not perfect by a long shot. My reason for this tangent is that I have a strong suspicion that perhaps they would get along better and have higher patience thresh-holds for each other if they had enough SLEEP!!! Oh, wait, maybe I would get along better and have a higher patience thresh-hold if I had enough SLEEP! Speaking of sleep, the picture of Max and Declan napping is one of my all time faves! Thank God for naps! My hopes for this school year is for all to have a year of growth, enthusiasm for learning and reading,and

good and consistent sleep. Meanwhile, throw in some bike-riding which Lauren LOVES to do and Brady is starting to master two-wheeling, and pizza nights and we may just have the best year ever! Speaking of pizza nights, we have had quite a few of those as we celebrated having a 4 year-old (Max) and a 7 year-old (Brady) this month! It's been fun, but I think I need a nap!

Summer Fun!

So, summer is in full swing, ready or not! It is the end of July, and my four older children have just started sleeping in to 7:30! That is quite the accomplishment as they are early risers! Declan, aka, Hubba Bubba, sleeps until about 6, so I'll take it and run! You know, this Halloween, I will mark my 10th anniversary as a mother (Walker will be 10) and I have to say, most days, I don't feel like I know any more about parenting or am any more confident as a mother than I was on 10-31-03. So either I am an EXTREMELY slow learner, or I have to resign myself to the fact that there just is no figuring this out completely. Same as having five kids. You would think I would carry some innate insight from having had four previous infants, but you would be wrong! I google or bing constantly about stuff I don't know about Declan's stages. And gosh darnit, I think that it is ok. Sometimes I think it is good for the kids to see me handle these challenges and problem solve on a case by case basis. It shows I am human and hopefully role models problem solving. Sometimes I think that my chosen methods of problem solving may just be what gives therapists in our area job security for the next few decades! I feel like I am on a roller coaster, but I also feel like I am just now learning to enjoy the ride! Pictures are of Declan at the pool in his stroller; Mr. Maxwell flaunting his cornhusker hat at the splash park at the pedestrian bridge; The yummiest four Flavor-Ice you ever did see at the Field Club Fourth of July Parade, courtesy of Aunt Denise, and lastly a smile from Declan!

Good Luck, Lauren . . .

See what I did with the title of this post, all you Disney Channel fans?? Get it? If not, that's ok too. So, one of the outcomes of having 5 kids is that everyone tries to guess our ratio of boys to girls. When I tell them we have 4 boys and 1 girl, they ALWAYS say: "Oh, poor thing!" I suppose there is some truth to the fact that it is a little sad that Lauren will never have the experience of having a sister among all these boys. She will also never have the experience of having a cat (I am not a cat person); she will miss out on dating until she is 25 because God gave her 4 brothers to see to that; she will never have the experience of riding a motorcycle while I am alive. In other words, there are many things that our family dynamic will preclude her from taking part in. The same goes for the boys. When people show such sympathy for my only daughter, I am quick to tell them not to worry about Lauren! She already tries to play the only girl thing for sympathy, but truth be told, she has plenty of advantages her 4 brothers do not! For instance, she has her own room (which she does not keep as clean as her mother would like!)whereas the boys all share a room (with the exception of Declan,for now). She has a bevy of girl cousins that give her hand-me-downs she does not have to share with anyone; There are many situations where being the only girl comes in handy for her. As for her parents, I believe God had very intentional reasons for giving us only one girl. She takes the cake when it comes to tantrums. I have her tantrum dance down and will present it at her wedding, along with the song she usually makes up to voice her discontent and clapping to add more noise to annoy all of us. As you can see from the pictures, most of which she took of herself WITHOUT permission, she has a profoundly silly side. But as with all aspects of her personality, she can go from girly to goofy instantly, happy to tantrum in no time, sick to playful in a wink, loving to obnoxious before you know what hit ya. I guess our lives would be uber boring without our super cra-cra Lauren (that's how the kids talk now-a-days! See, I'm down with what's in!) Luckily God sprinkled her with extra sweetness to balance out some of these other moods! She is a PROLIFIC note writer! Doug and I have stacks of notes she has left us everywhere you can imagine just telling us she loves us! That's something you don't get from 4 boys! If we all survive adolescence, she will be a great Mom and loving and fun wife! So, I guess instead of wishing her luck with 4 brothers, I should wish us luck with 1 Lauren!

Long time, no blog!

To say we have been busy, is an UNDERSTATEMENT! Since I last blogged, I made and brought into the world another human being! Welcome Declan Scott David Goebel! Stats: Born: 4-23-2013 (he shares John Cena's birthday, don't ask why I know that) Weight: 8 pounds 11 oz. (Boo-YA to the resident that said,"oh, there is no way there is 8 pounds in there", which I took as "Honey, you are fat!") Length: 21 inches (I think, I never remember that one!) To remind, Declan makes child #5, boy #4. His was an interesting pregnancy, having to do non-stress tests twice a week in the last four weeks, but a relatively smooth delivery. Needless to say, we are very grateful that God has entrusted us with him! We know we are very blessed to have the family we have. No matter how much I may complain on this blog or elsewhere, in my heart I know we are blessed to have conceived and delivered 5 healthy babies. There are so many that struggle and I try not to take for granted what we have been given. That being said, I am not perfect, and 5 is hard!!! To that end, I guess 4 was hard, and come to think of it 3 was hard, 2 was a difficult balance and 1 was an adjustment! It strikes me as I go through infancy again with Declan, that although I now have 5, I really don't feel any more enlightened than I did with number 1! That may be a testament of my intelligence. One would think that I should know exactly what I am doing by now, but that is not at all the case. To be truthful, Max (#4) was like a fantasy. For some reason, I feel like he was an easy baby all around and expected Declan to be the same. He is not difficult, but his feedings are not as smooth, he is a spitter, he seems to need more of me than I remember from Max. It may also be that soon after his arrival, summer break started and it has been me versus 5 ever since. With Max, soon after his August arrival, Walker went to school and Lauren and Brady entertained each other most of the day. Either way, I feel like I am as much fumbling my way through with Declan as with the others. When not breaking up wrestling matches and calming 8-year-old girl hormones (I cringe at that!) I am enjoying getting to know this little man! He is very serious and only gives smiles in his sleep or when he is fed and clean and mom is not yelling at someone, so he does not smile often, but when he does, it's heart-melting! It has also been an experience watching the older kids observe and act towards him. Walker is quick to hold him when he cries and is surprisingly very patient with Declan. Lauren is loving holding and nurturing him as well, but her attention span is a bit shorter with him. Brady appreciates the thought and sight of him, but leaves the nurturing to others. Max tries to be as affectionate as a 3-year-old can be which means that Declan's eyes get big and his lip quivers when Max is in his sights! Hopefully I will be better about posting now, but I can't guarantee anything!

Birthday Parties and Back to School!

Well the Goebel kids have started school! They had a blast on their first day of school at St. Pius. I will say that they traded the crabbies as you can see in the pictures. Brady was not feeling the love at back to school night and Lauren may have had a minor meltdown the morning of the first day. Something about not finding her shoes, which her mother constantly tells her to put where they belong, and wouldn't you know, they were not where they should have been. She shook it off and had a great day anyway. Brady came home crabby from the first day, but a good nap fixed that! We're off to the races! The boys of August had their Bday party this past Saturday! They were supposed to have it at our pool, but their brilliant father saw that the weather was not going to be in their favor, so we changed locations to the YMCA. They still got to swim and they had ooodles of fun! Thanks for all who came out! You were more then generous with gifts and well wishes! They are still playing away with their loot! Thanks also to Uncle David who had a card waiting for both Brady and Max in the mail when we got home from the party. We went right then and there to redeem the generous gift card he sent them! Suffice it to say, we have more wrestlers than we know what to do with now! The Orendachs also gave spoiled them Sunday before Doug's volleyball game! Thanks again!

It was a good weekend! We will celebrate their actual birthdays this week and keep in the groove of school!

Tacos

So this title may be a little misleading. This post actually has NOTHING to do with actual tacos. This past Sunday, Doug and I got out for part of the afternoon without children. We had grandma come over and watch the kiddos. And no, we did not go for tacos. We went to the infant memorial service at Immanuel for anyone who suffered infant loss this past year at any Alegent hospital. We were told about this service back in March when our loss happened. Doug has been waiting and watching for info on this service ever since. If it were just me, I probably would not have gone, but it was clearly very important to Doug that we go. Being the good wife that I sometimes am, I swallowed all my reservations and excuses and away we went. It was held in a tastefully decorated conference room. We were given the candle at the beginning. I perused the program for the service. Some very poignant songs were chosen, such as Eagles Wings, (a funeral standard and tear jerker for us catholics) and I will Carry You by Selah, a contemporary christian group. There was a lady all alone in the row in front of us already crying. Tacos. The service started with the sisters singing. They were an adorable group of elderly nuns who apparently do this sort of thing often for the hospitals. Bible readings were read. A nurse gave a statement that was comforting. The presider, a chaplain from Bergan gave his statement. He spoke of his experience with infant loss and had a hard time getting through. Tacos. He had the nerve to look straight at me while I was clearly trying to distract myself with thinking of different mexican food dishes, ok, maybe just one, tacos. His perspective as a male I think resonated with Doug, so I was glad he spoke, just wish he didn't try to make direct eye contact. Then a parent statement was given by a very sweet and suffering couple about their struggles with infant loss. Tacos, guacamole. This statement took a little more distraction to get through. Their statements were very raw and hearbreaking.

So now starts the song, I Will Carry You, and they call each family to light a candle for their baby and each member of the couple gets a rose. Steady. I am as strong as a fortress. Uh huh. The first baby they call belongs to the tear streaked lady in front of us. She lit her candle and laid two pictures on the table next to it. Tacos. Burritos? Enchiladas? Carne asada? Nope. Didn't work this time. You could clearly see they were pictures of her holding her infant son. I lost it. The chaplain seemed to almost gloat that it finally got to me (not really, but that's how I felt.) To make matters worse, an eight year old kid came in half way through the service and was sitting right next to me. I could feel his awkwardness at my sudden gasping for breath. There was a mutual feeling of awkwardness there. They called baby Goebel. I let Doug do the lighting. The nurses who were facilitating this part of the service seemed as though they would be disappointed if I didn't hug them. Again, awkward. Doug would have gladly hugged them, anyone in the room and possibly people in the next room. Me, not so much a hugger. Needless to say, it was difficult watching each family go through this ceremony. I was pretty disappointed with myself that I didn't have the emotional stamina to get through the whole thing without bawling. I really thought tacos would work. By the end, I decided that maybe it shouldn't be a test of my stamina. That may be completely missing the point of the ceremony. I really do feel like we have moved on from our loss, but in some ways, we will always have that. A loss. I didn't really want to accept that. When the ceremony ended, Doug and I did what we knew best. We went straight to the next room for the free food. There was some more awkwardness, but at least now I had a cup of coffee and a white chocolate chip macadamia nut cookie to keep me going. Again, I would not have gone of my own volition. Again, my husband gently nudged be to go beyond myself and do what was right for us. Ahh marriage. Humbling, frustrating, unconditional loving marriage. I hope I am just as pushy, controlling and frustrating a wife for him, or more simply put, I hope I have helped him grow as much as he has helped me. I debated with myself (yes, I argue with myself constantly, but at least I always win!) on whether or not to write about this because it is not something I would sit next to you and talk to you about. But this blog is about my kids. All of them. Enough said.

Random Summer Thoughts

This summer is flying by! We are trying to enjoy it, but it is so stinkin' hot! The kids NEVER tire of going to the pool. It's hard to argue when it has been as hot as it is. The older three can navigate the pool with no problem and little supervision. Max can't quite stand in the 3-feet- tall, as Brady calls it, but if not by summer's end, then for sure next year! He has a healthy caution when swimming. He stays on the wall if not held by one of us. He wants to be a big boy so bad! When not swimming, we might be at a baseball game or practice! Walker has taken on baseball as he does all sports, very seriously! He tried out and got a spot on the team as catcher. He also tried out for pitcher but did not make it. I think that is so good for him to have some success, but to also realize he is not the best at everything all the time. I really like his coaches and team! Small soap box: Just to let you know, these coaches are VOLUNTEER! It never ceases to amaze me the type of people who will take on a team and the responsibility, and unfortunately the griping and criticism of parents, and all that for no compensation other then joy in their heart! Luckily, all of the teams we have been on, parents have been very supportive and appreciative of our volunteer coaches. But you see it on the field and on other teams. Ok, getting off the soap box now. Brady too is playing ball and enjoying it as he always does, in his fun-loving way. Such a big heart he has. The boys are all signed up and ready to go for flag football in the fall! With Lauren, I think it is safe to say that if she were a Spice Girl, she would not be Sporty Spice! She is holding out for girl scouts in the fall or something more crafty. She enjoyed dance and may take that back up in the fall. The world is her oyster (as long as she doesn't have to run or bat a ball to get there!) She loves playing "school" in her spare time. When I say "spare" time, I mean time not spent grounded in her room for throwing the mother of all fits which she does almost daily. Trying to get through to my little drama queen that screaming and crying are not attractive features nor is a potty mouth has been quite the uphill battle! When not battling the slings and arrows of her ever-changing moods, I am battling with her on clothes (at 7, REALLY?). She ties all of her shirts with a pony tail holder so they are tight. Ok. Not sure what that is about. Then she rolls any thing she puts on (pants, shorts, skirts). Ok. What is that all about. I am walking the tightrope between keeping her apporpriately dressed for her age and out of the clutches of pedophiles and completely squashing her creativity. SIGH!! Max, or "puppy-dog" as I call him (why, I have NO idea), is quite the little boy! He wants to play baseball, swing, play legos, cars or wrestlers. He has a bit of the pouties that Brady has when he is told "no" or something doesn't go his way. He is also my one-man justice league. You mess with his brothers or sister, and you have another thing coming, even if you can't really understand what he is saying! You take something that is not yours, he is on you like white on rice. He is, most importantly, the apple of his siblings' eye. The Max. Doug is on a brief hiatus from taking classes (he is getting his Master's, you know), so we are trying to get those little projects done around the house. Before we know, school will be upon us! First day of school pics will be drastically different from last year. Stick around and see!