Life as a Mom of Two

No nap for me today. That whole "sleep when the baby sleeps" doesn't work anymore because I have two kids now.

That thought totally weirds me out every day.

For the past week or two, both James and Livy have napped at the same time so I got to nap as well. Not today. Darn hiccups kept the little girl from sleeping so I had to walk around the house with her, bouncing her up and down, to keep her from crying and waking James up.

Being a mom is rough sometimes.

I was spoiled with James. The kid was sleeping through the night by the time he was three weeks old. Not so with our Livy girl. She likes to eat and poop around the clock. It's awesome.

I thought my month-long adventure with RLS would prepare me for the sleep deprived early weeks with a newborn. Not so. In fact, I think I got less sleep with the RLS, so why does it feel so much worse being up every 2-3 hours to feed a baby? 

Look at this beautiful face though. Who can resist her? Not me.

Not her grandma . . .

  

And certainly not her grandpa.

Even her brother kinda likes her. He fondly refers to her as "My Livy" and is always asking if he can kiss her (or "sniff her," because that's just what James does).

We tried to make James feel important while all our guests were visiting. We went to the zoo, the park, and fed the ducks on multiple occasions. 

And let him play in his beloved sandbox with all the cool sand toys.

Being the mom of two is sure different than I thought it would be. It definitely means more stress, less sleep, and more patience on my part. I'm so glad for all the visitors we've had to help out. They came to help with the baby, but entertaining James usually took top priority. That kid likes attention.

My mom left on Sunday, so this is my first full week on my own. I am doing just fine (hopefully), but luckily we haven't had to go anywhere all together yet. I've been trying to schedule any appointments I might have with Brian's post-call days. So in between those days we've just been hanging out at home being boring. I don't know how people do it with tons of kids or with kids super close in age. I would go bonkers, that is for sure. So my hats off to people who can manage it and stay sane. I definitely don't have the patience but I know with a crazy independent/stubborn/opinionated/energetic kid like James, God is trying to teach me to develop some. Let's hope Livy stays as calm as she is now.

I had my follow-up c-section doc visit yesterday. Even though I still have five pounds to go to reach my pre-pregnancy weight (more to reach my ideal weight), the doctor told me I looked skinny enough and not to lose any more weight on purpose for awhile. That made me feel good since I still feel like a fat lard with an awesome c-section pooch. In one more week I can start exercising again . . . "again" meaning actually start exercising since we all know I didn't really exercise at all before. But my goal is to run a 5k some time this year. I can't be the only one in my family who hasn't done it. So even though I won't purposely try to lose more weight, at least I can try to get in shape!

Then maybe I'll have more energy even on those sleepless/napless days.