The more, the merrier

I'm sure everyone is waiting to hear how I'm handling life with two.

I must admit, the most overused phrase when you tell people you are expecting another baby when you have a 1 year old is, "Oh, you're going to have your hands full." After the first few months of hearing it continuously, I began to loathe the phrase. To me, the words were dripping in pity and doubt - how could a 25 year old possible handle a newborn, 1 year old and work?

Well, I don't know if I'm still running on the adrenaline of having Jackson home, but things aren't nearly as rough as I would have thought. If anything, every day gets easier. Jimmy had strep throat when I brought Jackson home (we have wonderful luck, eh?) so he was quarantined to the Master bedroom until Sunday. That means, I had to get Jackson adjusted to life out of the NICU and get little Jimmy adjusted to life with a newborn....alone. Now, I'll admit, that was a little hard. I wasn't sure I would be able to do it. But I did what I always do when I'm in doubt, I prayed. God granted me peace and eased my mind about juggling it all. I was able to spend quality time with both boys together and explain to little Jimmy about being gentle. Needless to say, Jimmy is obsessed with his little brother and loves walking around the house saying, "Jack Jack." He kisses him and tries to lay down on the Boppy pillow with him, and I honestly think having two little ones so close in age is a blessing, not a burden. I can teach Jimmy what it means to be gentle and he can adapt to situations much easier because his mind is a sponge right now and he isn't set in his ways just yet.

And if you know anything about my parenting style, you know I'm a huge supporter of schedules. People literally laughed in my face when I said I was going to get the boys on the same schedule from the get-go. Well, it took only two days but I have the boys napping at the same time, going to bed at the same time, and eating just 30 minutes apart. This means if Jackson has a feeding at 2 p.m., Jimmy is eating at 2:30 p.m. That 30 minutes is the perfect amount of time for me to change Jackson's diaper and get him fed. Then, I turn my attention to Jimmy. Pretty amazing, right? Now I'm sure you're shaking your head saying I'm calling all of this a success a little premature, but who cares?! Even if this only lasts a few weeks, it still means at least 6 hours of sleep per night for me and the opportunity to start easing back into work. Yesterday, I worked 5 hours while the boys napped throughout the day! 5 hours!

I'm all about schedules, and I think it's what makes this house run so smooth. Of course, there are days when little Jimmy wakes up a little earlier or sleeps in, but we just adjust. The hardest part of the day is 8:00 at night when we are getting both boys ready for bed but with the help of my husband, we are able to tackle this as well. Last night, we were down on the couch watching t.v. by 8:30 and wondering what the heck to do with the peace and quiet we had the rest of the evening.

So, all I can say is I LOVE LOVE LOVE being a Mommy of two. I get to share in so much fun and laughter during the day and my heart is absolutely exploding with love for these two little guys. Now I'll admit, I'm going to pray for a little girl in the future and if I wasn't so darn scared of going through what I did with Jackson I would probably even consider having another within the next year. But, I think it's time to let God work on this family of four and let us grow and learn together. I'm so thankful for the blessings in my life. I may not know exactly what I'm doing every day, but I have the support of an AWEsome God behind me!

How's that for "having my hands full?" :)