It’s been eight years since the sounds of newborn coos filled the Gaines household—so in some ways, it feels almost like it’s all happening for the first time, Joanna Gaines, the fifth-time mama tells People. “I have forgotten almost everything, so it feels brand new,” says Jo, who welcomed baby Crew on June 21. “I tell Chip that I feel 25, and in my mind, there’s something about it that gives me an extra kick in my step.”

After welcoming their first four children in the span of just a few years, Chip and Jo thought they were out of the diaper stage for good. Then their self-described “surprise” baby shook life up again in the very best of ways. “Forty and pregnant,” Joanna says. “Who would have ever thought that was going to happen? But I’ll take it!”

In fact, she isn’t even ruling out another baby.

“I think one thing about me and Chip is that we never like to look really far in advance and plan, that’s never been how we are,” Jo says. “I joke with my friends that I’m going to be that 45-year-old who’s pregnant.”

As for how the large age gap will affect baby Crew, psychologist Dr. Kevin Leman shared an interesting theory in The Birth Order Book: Why You Are the Way You Are : When there is a gap of six or more years between siblings, it essentially starts a new birth order.

So, if Chip and Jo continue to expand their family, Crew would likely have a lot more in common with Drake, the true oldest sibling—rather than taking on the traits typically linked to middle or youngest children. “Not only would his parents model adult characteristics for him, but so would his much bigger (and more capable) brother[s] and sisters[s],” Leman writes.

For now, though, the family isn’t looking that far ahead, but instead appreciating the newborn stage again.

 

Adding to the sweetness of it all is the experience of watching their four older children dote on baby Crew. “The best thing about all of this is the excitement that my kids have shown for their new baby brother,” Jo previously said. “I truly believe this baby is a gift from God for our family in this season.”

 

 

As for how the age gap between the Gaines’ children is shaking up Chip and Jo’s plans for the future, she says they are simply excited for what is to come—even if they don’t know what it will be. “We think about things like when Emmie goes off to college this little one will only be 10,” Jo said earlier this year. “It’s just crazy to think how wide that gap is, but Chip just loves hanging out with the kids and it’s just such a sweet thing.”