Perhaps you know my wife and I personally. Perhaps know us from your casual reading of this here blog. Perhaps you know us from stalking us in your spare time. Regardless, you’ve probably gathered that we’re not normal. At all. There was a time, however, when our family was closer to “normal.” We had two kids. We drove a normal-sized vehicle. We did a normal amount of laundry. When we ate dinner, we ate sitting down. We slept sometimes. Our house was clean. We didn’t spend 10 hours per week searching for missing shoes. Or coats. Or toothbrushes. Or sanity.

Then came the crazy. In the span of 20 months, we added four kids to our family.

Seemingly overnight, our little family grew to a family of 8. All of a sudden, we had six kids ages 5, 3, 2, 1, 1, and infant (Yes, four kids in diapers. Yes, 6 kids in car seats.). We bought an embarrassingly large van. We had a couch deemed “laundry couch” that was perpetually hidden by a pile of laundry. We rarely sat down for anything–let alone dinner. I’m pretty sure we slept for a combined 2 hours in 2 years. Our house-not so clean. And seriously, WHERE DO MY KIDS KEEP PUTTING THEIR SHOES?

We lived in “survival mode” for a couple years. Mid-2007 through 2009 was a blur of total chaos. Like any family, we had highs and lows, but we loved it. We had a blast. We cherished it. We’d do it again in a heartbeat. You know the saying “God won’t give you more than you can handle?” Yeah, that’s big fat false. Sure, I’ll back up that statement scripturally. Thanks for asking. One of many examples: Gideon. God intentionally picked a group who couldn’t handle the task in order to leave no doubt as to who earned the victory. Story of our life.

Anyhow, eventually, we began to breath. Life was still crazy, but things seemed to calm down a bit. Then, God blessed us with an awesome teenager (that’s another story, a small bit of which can be found here). Our household increased to 9. We continued to have a blast in the midst of chaos (as seen here and here and here). Well, we’ll shed a few tears as she heads off to college–and to change the world–later this year. When she departs, the number of full-time residents in the Wood house will go down from 9 to 8………or so we thought.

Yep, Careese is pregnant.

If you hold your mouth open and say “WHAT?!” for a couple weeks then you’ll be where we’re at. Yes, we’re excited. Very surprised, but excited. We’re blessed to be surrounded by a lot of great people and are thrilled that many of you who are reading this will be walking through this adventure with us.

It’s a good thing that God created both of us to function well in the midst of insanity. Bring it on.

And now, allow me to address a few frequently asked questions:

Q: Are you crazy? A: Clearly.

Q: Was this planned? A: Clearly not.

Q: Are you Catholic or Mormon? A: Neither, but, I like the new Pope.

Q: How did your kids react? A: They were VERY excited–well, all of them except for child #5. To quote his reaction to the news: “Oh. Do we have any more pizza? Where is the pizza?” Actually, I think that he is excited, just more so about Papa John’s.

Q: Are you guys done now? A: Yes, we’re done. Again. Can anyone recommend a good urologist?

 

oops

sono