Getting brave..

Levi just turned 4 weeks old! Can you believe it?? Time flies when you're having fun:) this week I have had a few wild hairs in attemp to feel "normal" again. The postpartum fog has began to lift and each day I feel better and better! Bill's car has been out of commission for the past 5-6 weeks, so we have been adjusting to only one car.. Which is fine. We've done the whole 'one car thing' before(for almost 3 years), but being home with all the kids all day, everyday is making me a little stir crazy! But I can have the car if we can all get up and take Bill to work in the mornings, then drive back at night to pick him back up.. which is what we did twice this week! The first day, I was feeling a little ambitious and decided to take the kids to the pool. I know.. I know.. I'm crazy!! Who takes 5 kids who are 5,4,3,15months, and a newborn to the pool by herself?? ME!! (and I am sure there are people who have more kids than me, closer together in age, and can dance circles around us Davis'. But this is new to me, so cut me some slack!) Thankfully, my sister Lauren (who was keeping a 6yr old little girl) came too! And let me tell you... It was a disaster!! The big kids did great!! EK, jos and Miley can all swim like champs and completely entertained themselves. Levi slept pretty much the whole time in the shade, but adalyn was a HOT MESS! We need to get her a better floaty bathing suit like I had with my other kid because she gave me a heart attack every few minutes! She was in the pool, then out of the pool. Then climbing on the stairs, then falling off the side, then taking the kids' drinks, then running away, then back on the stairs, then climbing back out, then falling back in... It was exhausting! My big post baby self was jiggling all over that pool trying to keep her safe and contained:) it was a nightmare! She wasn't being bad by any means, but her age is not fun at the pool... Especially when i can't give her my undivided attention. So, next time she might have to stay home, or I will need to bring extra reinforcements:) thankfully Yaya was able to watch the big kids do all of their tricks and she was an extra set of eyes and hands to help me!((sigh)) I'm exhausted just typing that out! Ha! Today I attempted the grocery store with all of the kids by myself for the first time. The first trip alone with a new baby is always super nerve wracking for me.. So I was anxious to get it over with. We pulled up to publix and I had a talk with my big three. "ok, y'all! Momma has 5 kids now. FIVE! That is a WHOLE hand and a lot to keep up with at a store. So I need y'all to remember our rules and stay with me the entire time, ok? No wandering off and no grabbing things off the shelves. Let's try and play a game and see who can be the calmest and quietest while we shop.. And maybe there will be a prize for the winner!" ha.. Who said prizes didn't work?! And let me tell you.. They were PERFECT! I was so proud! I wore Levi in the moby wrap, adalyn and miley rode in the buggy and EK and jos held onto either side of the buggy and helped me load and unload the groceries. I had to get onto Miley just once for being too loud on the cereal aisle. She wasn't doing anything wrong.. She was just excited to see some cartoon character on a cereal box and I had to remind her to talk softly:) and surprisingly, I only had 3 people stop me to tell me that I had my hands full! Usually we have about 10 people stop and stare:) so the kids each got a gumball from the machine as we walked out and I kept bragging to them about how amazing they were and how proud I was of them. Miley smiled at me and said, "thanks momma! You're amazing, too!" Maybe she was just trying to butter me up and make me feel better from calling me out this morning. You see, as I was getting dressed this morning, Miley walked in my room and shouted, "whoa momma!! I just saw your BIG, BIG hiney!!"

Life lately..

 Life lately has been great! And exhausting.. But still great:) Levi is 3 weeks old and just as precious as he could be! He is nursing every 3 hours and has even given me a few 5-6 hour stretches at night:) He has finally shown us that he does indeed have a voice and likes to get loud and holler sometimes! Whenever he cries, all 4 of the other kids run to him saying "shhh!", sing him a song, shove him his passy, or cover him with kisses:) they adore him! He is quite the spitter, has some wild, crazy hair, big juicy lips and has some of the cutest dimples that you have ever seen!! He has alsos found his thumb and may be Miley's little twinkie:)

 Adalyn is quite cute with her baby brother. She lovingly calls him "bebe" while kissing and patting his head. As soon as we acknowledge her sweetness to Levi, she walks away SO proud and with the biggest smile on her face. She is 15 months old already, and I am LOVING this stage with her. A few days after Levi was born, she walked around the house whining and crying for no apparent reason.. It was awful and totally fried my nerves! But now she is back to her sweet, chubby, sweetie pie self:) weighing in at 25 1/2 lbs.. She is no light weight! I am surprised my arms still have any flab left on them.. I should be ripped from carrying her around:) ha! She still takes 2 naps a day and sleeps 12-13 hours at night. We are so thankful for good sleeping babies! However, adalyn likes to be in bed at 7pm Every.Single.Night! That isn't always conducive for us, so we have witnessed our sweet 4th born turn into a bear when we push our limits with her bedtime. She is a big eater (obviously), and is thoroughly enjoying the fruits of summertime! She LOVES watermelon, strawberries, peaches, grapes.. You name it! she also has a new found love of toothbrushes. At any given moment, you can find her in our bathroom drawers looking for toothbrushes that she can swipe:) I laugh how every time she catches us watching her, she takes off running. Surprisingly, those chubby legs can move:)

Miley is the same ol' Miley. Cute as a button and as sassy as ever! When I picked her up from nursery on sunday, I hugged her and told her I missed her. She barely acknowledged me as she chomped on her lollipop, then decided to say to me, "well, I didn't miss you!!" sweet thing.. she also informed me while I was getting out of the shower one day that my "belly was kinda not big anymore!" that girl.. always the encourager:) Too bad she is so darn cute, I don't think she would be so easily forgiven if not!! ha!

Josiah is precious.. (as they all are!) but, he has been such a breath of fresh air for me these past few weeks! Such an easy going guy who rarely complains and is ALWAYS giving some compliments. He notices when we change our hairstyles, toe nail polish color, or have a new outfit on and will always tell his sisters or myself how "beau-ful" we are:) He wants to be just like his daddy and would kiss Levi all day long if he could!

 Ella Kate is a great big sister. She is a little too rough and sneaky for my comfort, but if i give her a "job", then she will do it 110%!! For instance, she asked if she could clean all of the windows in the house one day... umm, OF COURSE YOU CAN!! she was thrilled that I said yes, and couldn't wait to get started. an ENTIRE box of baby wipes later, my windows were clean... and a tad bit streaky, but she was so proud!! she also LOVES to wash dishes and is elated when I ask her to "babysit" Adalyn when I need to hop in the shower. She is super picky about her hair these days, and has lost all interest in wearing dresses. She begs to wear shorts or jeans everyday with a side ponytail or messy bun with NO hair bow. ((tear)) I chose my battles with her these days... but I also remind her that she is 5 and I am the mom:)

We had VBS last week and the kids and I made it every day. I think it was wednesday when Ella Kate pulled out 2 quarters, a dime and a few pennies. With the biggest smile on her face, she told me, "momma, I think I'm gonna buy me a VBS t-shirt today with my money!" It was the sweetest thing! However, the t-shirts were $10 and I didn't have any cash on me... nor did I have a checkbook to help pay the difference. Thankfully, Poppa was there and he bought them all their own shirts and they have worn them almost everyday since:)

Levi Nicholas is here.... Finally:)

Our sweet 5th born made his debut on Thursday, May 24th at 12:38pm weighing 8lb 5oz and 21in long! I can't believe he is finally here.. And the days keep flying by too quickly. I also can't believe he is 2 weeks old already! Why is it that time crawls by during those last few weeks of pregnancy, then as soon as you have a baby, you blink once and they are a year old?!?! But, this hormonal momma can't linger on that subject for too long... I am already wanting another one and am having the hardest time thinking that Levi might just be the last Davis baby:( he has been the sweetest addition to our family and we all love him to pieces! Bill keeps forgetting that we have a new baby because he is so sweet, content and quiet! He hasn't even really cried yet.. We are so blessed!

The kids are so in love with Levi and are constantly asking to hold him, sing to him, kiss him.. you name it:) I want to share his birthing details so i can always look back and remember his special day. After 7 weeks of bed rest, steroid shots, and 2 trips to the hospital to stop preterm labor.. we actually had to be induced! imagine that:) Bill and I came to the hospital wednesday night the 23rd and was given cervidil. This was my first experience with it and it wasn't bad at all! Our nurse was amazing and so sweet.. she gave me an ambien to help me sleep some through the cramps, and let me just say that those pills are heavenly:) Bill and I had a relaxful evening that night.. talking about Levi and what he might look like, watching tv, and missing the other kids like crazy! i actually cried on the way to the hospital, because i knew i would be missing my babies so much.. and i had never left Adalyn before. She was with my mom and Ella Kate and I knew that she was totally fine and was getting plenty of lovin'.. but it was still so hard to leave her! Lauren had Miley and Josiah and they were so excited to spend time with YaYa, that I don't think that I was even given a good-bye hug from them:) I had a corn dog, french fries and a payday candy bar as my "last meal", and i dozed off to dream land. They started the pitocin at 6am the next morning, broke my water at 8am, got an epidural around 10am and he was here shortly after noon:) My daytime delivery nurse was the complete opposite of our night time nurse we had just had. She was loud, rough and straight to-the-point. once, while I was pushing she popped my leg and told me that I wasn't going to have a baby pushing like that and I needed to push harder! It was hard for me to push because my epidural didn't completely numb me and I was feeling some pain.. so I told my doctor that I could feel everything and the nurse piped in and told me that I didn't feel pain, it was just pressure. Bill snapped back and told her that this was our 5th kid and I knew the difference between pain and pressure. I have had 3 babies where I felt absolutely nothing and it was marvelous!! However with Ella Kate and Levi, (my biggest babies), I could feel their birth and I really didn't want to. The good thing is, is that he came out so fast and so it was over soon! Levi came out face first and i remember his head being a little disfigured.. but he was still so perfect! It never ceases to amaze me how much you can love someone that you just met!! We are so blessed!

The rest of the day is kind of a blur.. the kids came up to the hospital to see him with my mom and sisters and we had some of our friends come in and out, but I honestly can't remember the rest. However, I can remember every single detail of that night. It involved horrific cramps, a UTI and very little sleep... Delirious was my state of mind for the next day or so... and even now that we are 2 weeks out, I am still a little crazy:) I don't ever remember being this tired with my other babies. Levi is such a sweet baby and is eating every 3 hours just like my other ones did..  I am still so pooped! Bill was back to work almost immediately so it is hard being up with the baby at night and then up all day with the other kids... I need to do better at taking cat naps. I have probably taken maybe 4 naps since he was born.. but it is hard to rest when you have laundry to do, lunches to fix, beds to make, boo-boos to kiss, books to read, fights to break up and a baby to nurse... but this is my life and I LOVE it! I am sure I will miss these days when they're gone!