Catching Up

Some of my very best friends live across the country; and, while we try to talk pretty regularly on the phone and send email updates with some frequency, every once in a while we get in a cycle where life is busy, we keep missing each other on the phone, and – if I’m really being honest (sorry girls) – sometimes even when I do have a few minutes, the idea of talking feels overwhelming and exhausting because it’s been so long and there is just too much to catch up in the 15 minute window I have.  Tell me some of you can relate…

Anyway, I feel like I’m kind of in that place with my blog.  (Yes, I just compared this blog to my best friends… Go with me here.) I think about this space all the time.  I crave time to sit and “catch up” here. I know it will be good for me when it finally happens, but I just can’t seem to find the couple of hours it would take to really do it justice.  And so, day after day, I’ve thought “maybe tomorrow,” the blog sits quiet, and the gap grows larger.

Fifteen minutes is all I have.  It’s just the reality of this season, so I’m going to write for 15 minutes and just see what I can share… When I have time, I’ll come back and write for 15 more minutes.  It isn’t going to be fancy or life changing, but it will be here, and – slowly but surely – we’ll catch up again.  Come along?

So far, for me, the adjustment from one to two kids has been MUCH easier than going from zero to one.  I think a lot of it has to do with the almost four year age gap – Sam can do a lot for himself, play independently, and is actually quite helpful with Nora – but I know so much of it has to do with my confidence as a mom this time around.  Although there are some noticeable differences (mainly nighttime sleep – praise the Lord!), I really see so many similarities in Sam & Nora’s little personalities.  This is teaching me that – shocker – babies fuss, and – as hard as it is for me to admit – I’m just not very good at scheduling a newborn… This isn’t because my babies are “hard” or that I’m not a good mom;  it just is what it is.  The fact that I’m not freaking about these things and questioning my every decision is what makes this experience so different.  With a clear mind (and a lot less time spent Googling and reading every book known to man), I’ve been able to make some changes to my diet (cutting out diary), our routines (showering every day and getting out of the house most), and our techniques (baby-wearing, bottle-feeding more often, etc.) that seem to have really helped.  We have good days and bad, but – for the most part – at five weeks now, I feel like we’ve settled into a pretty normal life and are doing well.

Maternity leave has been much busier than I expected.   I remember spending the first couple of months at home after Sam was born – watching movies, napping, blogging, etc. – but this time we really just jumped back into life. We’ve been to restaurants, a children’s museum, playgrounds, friends’ houses, Target, and church; and, at home, our days fly by.  Jeff and I are “all hands on deck” all the time.  Sure, I’ve had a few pajama-clad days vanish into a sea of Gilmore Girls (P.S. why didn’t anyone tell me when I said I planned to watch that and four other shows that there are, seriously, 153 episodes?!?) and re-heated coffee; but, for the most part, it’s been “business as usual” plus every three hour feedings, diaper changes, and A LOT of cuddling. (First time mommas, enjoy those very quiet days at home with your newborn – you really don’t get that when you have another child to care for later on – even when Sam is at school or not at home there is still more laundry, picking up, cooking, etc. to do.) I’ve been incredibly unproductive with my To Do List; but, thankfully, I’ve also been OK with that.  It seems my priorities are different this time too… One look at the little boy building a train track through my living room or helping himself to trail mix in the pantry reminds me that babies don’t keep and this time really does fly by.

That’s all for today! More soon!

E

Heather is doing a great give away of handmade wooden art on her blog this week from an awesome shop intended to raise money for a sweet friend’s mission trip to Israel. You should definitely check it out and enter now!