Big families, small problems. Lots and lots of small problems.

Today was Lisa's first full day home with all five kids. They recently welcomed darling Susanna, who brings the total to one complete handful! We are so happy for Lisa and Michael and their brood of cuties.

No doubt, going from 3 to 5 was tough. It was so noisy and there were SO many tears. Sometimes the kids cried, too. There were so many days when I thought to myself, I will never be able to unearth myself. What's going to be left of me when they're done with this torture?!? Don't get me wrong, it still feels like that several days a week.

There isn't much of the old me left. In the place of expectations and exasperation there is this wonderful new space for joyful surprises and incredible patience. I started praying for humility in December of 2011. Boy was that a crazy thing to do. I was given a pregnancy that required me to ask for help and two babies who force me to admit daily that I just can't do it all. When you add two babies to an already busy house full of young children, the result will always be chaos.

Next week the boys will be ten months old. It's been an incredibly long ten months, and we are tired. I believe my text to Lisa today said something like, "There isn't a day I don't feel like I just got my ass handed to me." Andrew and I look at each other at the end of the day and we so often say, "How on earth did we get through another day?"

But, OH the blessings. The love around here just pushes right out the front door. It's melts right down the driveway. We are just surrounded by these darling children and every day is better than the last. I'm fairly certain that if we had any more, I would die of "overblessedness." It boggles the mind. Andrew and I can have the longest day and just be ready to collapse (but only days that end in "y") and we still look at each and just swell with love and happiness. So many people to please, so many souls to tend, so many faces to kiss, so many knees to band-aid, so many tushies to wipe, so many giggles to hear, so many prayers to send up, so many spills to clean up, so many reasons to smile. Here, Lisa. You're going to need this. And you're going to love every minute of what's to come.