Instagram Pic: November 27, 2018 at 03:26PM

Warning: long post ahead. 😬 I love being a mama. When I was little and people asked what I wanted to be when I grew up I almost always said I wanted to be a mom and have 12 kids. No joke. And now that we have five kids, I’m not going to lie, I absolutely LOVE it, but it’s not always roses and butterflies around here. The other day I jokingly told Dustin that the fifth child broke us because we’ve been feeling emotionally and physically drained basically everyday since this guys’ birth 👆. With four kids it seemed we could still keep our heads above water, things usually got done on time, I got around to dusting and wiping the floors more than once a month (😬🙈), and I could keep up with the laundry. Then number five came along and everything was survival mode, as it usually is for a little while with a newborn, but I think we’ve been in that survival mode for what seems like an awfully long time now. That’s not to say that we don’t have easy days and lots and lots of wonderful moments and I wouldn’t trade this life with anyone, ever. But, ya know, I just want to be honest and say that it’s usually very loud over here, I’m not always patient with my kids, there are lots of messes, lots of laundry, and I am tired pretty much constantly! Social media sometimes can be deceiving because we don’t usually post our most difficult moments, crabby kids (crabby mom), or piles of messes. But those things exist! I read in a book a few years ago that when you feel like you’re at a 10/10 chaotic and stress level for a while then you may need to reset and make that 10 your new 1. So if you’re in the same spot as I am I just want you to know you’re not alone and we all just might need a reset for a while! Don’t get me wrong, I don’t ever want to wish these little years away because I love them SO much and I know I’ll look back and give everything to get these days back. The squishy cheeks, the couch cuddles, the noises, the messy faces, the chaos, the toys everywhere, all of it. But I think it’s ok to feel two things at once... (continued in comments) 👇