I probably only have a minute to write before someone needs something. Here is a little about our first week with Charlie Mac.

I recently read Mark Manson’s book, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*uck. Based on the title and the brief description, I wasn’t too sure about this book but I had heard a lot of good things so I decided to give it a try. There were many takeaways from the book but the biggest one for me was his take on happiness. He talked about happiness not as an end goal or even a state of mind but as something achieved when we solve problems related to the things that we give a f*ck (pardon my french!) about. Instead of asking ourselves what we need to be happy, we should ask, what are we willing to struggle for. If we are willing to struggle for it, chances are that it brings happiness.

For me it’s simple. Here’s what I’m willing to struggle for:

These six people

I am willing to struggle for myself because as I am realizing more and more lately, the more I fight for myself (carve out and ask for time to myself), the happier I am = the better mom, wife, friend and daughter I am. And the other 5 people in this photo- I will fight, struggle and feel all the pain in the world for them. And it’s true, isn’t it? No one says that marriage is easy and that raising kids is commonplace. It is hard work, it’s solving one problem after another and reaping the rewards of a loving marriage and happy children.

The angular, hard edges of perfection are being sanded down by all our scrapes and falls, till we’re round and soft and can get close enough to each other to just hold each other. -Ann Voskamp

We are wearing down some edges in our house.

Charlie Mac turns 1 week old today. This week has been full of highs and lows. The high of our first touch . . . all the snuggles . . . his tiny head and shoulder hair and crinkly old man feet . . . newborn smell (Can someone find a way to bottle that up?! Big Luke said,  “Your uterus must smell really good.”- gross but super funny!) We’ve had a couple days of about 2 hours of sleep. We’ve had breast feeding trouble; a new problem every day (I could write a whole post about this!). I’ve been kinda, sorta emotional.

But we are getting it worked out. He’s brand new. And while I’ve done this before, I’ve never done it with him. He’s worth the struggle.

Here are some of the details:

Charles McCurdy was born Tuesday June 27th at 9:45pm. I went in for an induction at 4:30 that afternoon after getting bumped from the morning. He was 8lb 14oz (wowzers!) and 20.5 inches long.

That’s my “Yup, I’m a mom of four” face plus my “I’m crazy tired” face.

The kids have been really sweet and interested in the baby. Elle calls him “baby bubba.” I was expecting her to be jealous but so far she’s been fine. They’ve had lots of questions about his umbilical cord and breast feeding. I was putting cabbage leaves on my breasts (to help with engorgement) and lil Luke said, “The milk is for the baby and the cabbage is for if you get hungry.” Well, not exactly. Haha!

We’ve had so many people bring us food and treats. Our neighbors, friends and family have shown up in a big way for us. We are so grateful. And the grandparents have been AMAZING. They have taken care of Fleet, Luke and Elle pretty constantly. It’s eased my mind and my heart to know that they are well taken care of as Charlie Mac and I try to find our way . . . it’s not a smooth ride ya’ll!