On several occasions today, I got to say “thank you” to people who congratulated me on my bump, who – mind you – do not know me, and then I smiled as I watched their eyes bulge when I told them this was my fourth. Granted, these were sales people, so either by their own natural disposition or because of good customer service, the faces and words that followed were very sweet and very kind. For the most part, that’s been our experience with this pregnancy, although there have definitely been a few facial expressions that read nothing short of “Are you CRAZY?!”

Let us be fair – it is an honest reaction. And while B and I haven’t ever thought of ourselves or our family planning as (full on) loony, there is a certain level of “hold on to your hats” with our lifestyle. With this many Littles in the family needing so much attention and care, not to mention our own self-preservation and that of our marriage, we get spread a little thin. The truth is, we have a lot of moving parts and that is where the crazy can start to creep in.

While I have a post coming soon about feeling ready (or not) for Baby No.4 to arrive, my focus here is about the one word that really strikes fear in my heart when I think about what it will be like to transition from Life as Five to Life as Six: Logistics.

I am pretty much totally freaking out, shaking in my boots when I think about the arrival of this sweet peanut being compounded by Ben returning to school, HD’s first ever year of full-day school, and Raegan’s first foray into preschool (three days a week). That means half of us have almost daily demands outside of the house, all in opposite directions, and at slightly different times through the day. Heaven help me, but how exactly are we going to pull this off?!

Well, part of it will depend on asking for and relying on help. That’s hard for a girl who dislikes making phone calls and doesn’t like to ask for favors she may not be able to return, but it takes a village. I have to acknowledge that B and I alone do not a village make. We are going to need people and we will without a doubt be so very grateful for our people.

The other component of survival, beyond sheer winging it (there will be lots of winging it, trust me) will be figuring out some sort of organizational system/command center/color-coded-PostIts-to-the-forehead-method of who needs to be where when and with what. Surely some of you have ideas for this, yes? If so – actually, if you have any ideas for handling logistics in a family this size at a super transitional time of the year, not to mention life – please, please share!