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Pat is thrilled that football season has begun and it seems that he's passed on his enthusiasm to the kids!

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O-H-I-O!

Here Comes Trouble...

1 vs 2

Pat and I were talking the other day about when we were expecting Evie.  Everything was so new and exciting, and we spent so much time preparing for her arrival.  I remember things so vividly from that time.  We had no idea what to expect when it came to having a baby and we put so much thought into every decision from what blankets to buy to her pediatrician.  We were taking this giant leap into parenthood and we really had no concept about how much life, how much we, would change.  Every moment from the day we found out that Evie was coming, was new for us.  I miss those days sometimes.  The anticipation and naivetés we had before everything changed.  Not that I would change one thing about where we’re at today.  Because I wouldn’t.  But I get a little jealous when I hear about someone expecting their first baby because I remember how it was.  I remember how it was to sit and think about dressing up my little baby in the tiny clothes I’d washed or rocking my new baby to sleep in the perfect nursery we’d made.  I didn’t know yet that I’d cringe a little when I’d have to change yet another outfit that got spit up on.  I didn’t know then that sometimes babies have sleepless nights and you’re not always rocking them peacefully in the nursery, but pacing the hallway at 3am.  I remember imagining all of fun and wonderful times we’d have together, the places I’d proudly take my baby and how much I’d love them.  I didn’t know then that fun times are mixed in with tears and moments that make you want to pull your hair out and run screaming for the hills.  I didn’t know then that sometimes leaving the house with children requires more effort that I have to give and it’s just easier to stay home.  I didn’t know then just much, how all-encompassing, how unconditional my love for my children would be, even when they are driving me crazy.  I didn’t know then how wonderfully hard being a parent can be.

Pat and I talk a lot about the differences between when we had Evie and when we had Mitchell.  Given that there was only two years between the two events, you’d think that not too much would have changed.  But really, so many things are different.  With our first, everything was such a huge production because it was all so new.  By the time Mitch came, Pat and I felt like old pros (at least a little) and most things were no long that big a deal.  Even pregnancy was different the second time around, in terms of my thought process and actions.  I just knew more of what to expect.

Pregnancy with Evie

·         Researched everything to make sure it was safe; afraid to move the wrong way or I might hurt the baby; lots of rest; didn’t worry too much about my blood platelets; spent oodles of time picking out baby stuff; took classes on breastfeeding and childbirth; bought new nursing tops, new pajamas and new robe for the hospital; had my bag packed ahead of time; had several coming home outfits for Evie; never went into labor and didn’t have to endure much pain before the epidural kicked in.

Evie

 Pregnancy with Mitchell
·         Still researched a lot, but I already knew what was safe for pregnancy for the most part; didn’t have time to worry about how the wrong movement might affect the baby because I was too busy running after and picking up my toddler; didn’t get a lot of rest; worried a lot about low blood platelets and thrombocytopenia; didn’t take any classes (unless you count the natural childbirth video that was made sometimes in the late ‘80s that Pat and I watched); didn’t buy any new stuff for the hospital because I knew I’d stay in the hospital gown (why get new clothes dirty if you don’t have to!); didn’t have a bag packed until 5 minutes before we ran out the door to the hospital; didn’t pack a coming home outfit for the baby because we didn’t know what we were having (Pat brought it later); was in labor all day and only had an epidural for less than an hour at the end.

Mitch

 First Weeks with Evie

·         Nursing was HARD; lots of tears and fretting that she wasn’t getting enough to eat; weekly weight checks; lots of rest; held Evie constantly; picked her up every time she made a noise because we weren’t sure if something was wrong; lots of sleepless nights; woke her up to feed her and, again, picked her up every time she made a noise; sterilized everything, sometimes multiple times a day; was afraid to drive with her in the car or go somewhere by myself with her for a while and didn’t leave the house for over two weeks.  Evie’s room was ready before she was born, all of the clothes were washed and put away and the swing was set up.

Evie

First Weeks with Mitch

·         Nursing was so much easier for day one; only had two weight checks; not as much rest since I had toddler and a baby to care for; held Mitchell a lot, but not constantly.  He has had a lot more time in his swing and play mat; did not wake him up to eat after we came home from the hospital; kept the room quiet and dark when he got up to eat in the middle of the night and put him right back to sleep; sterilized stuff once, but it may not be sterilized again for a several days/weeks; had to drive with both kids less a week after he was born to go to the doctor and then the grocery store and it didn’t even phase me.  Mitchell still doesn’t have a room.  I feel a little bit bad about that, but not really because he still sleeps next me to me.  Evie barely used her room for the first 6 months of her life so I didn’t worry too much about having Mitch’s room not being done from day one.  It’ll get done and he’ll be fine.  Babies don’t care about their rooms.

 

Mitch

Life With Evie

·         Everything revolved around her.  We focused on nursing at the same times every day, what bottles to use, what sort of new-fangled baby contraption to buy.  We analyzed every noise she made…is she sick? Does she need a diaper change?; Is she hungry?  Tired?  I lost it when Evie got sick the first time with a cold  I took off work and sat in our room with her for the entire day next to the humidifier, saline spray and warm wash clothes.  We took pictures and documented every expression she made and every new thing she did and her  baby book is completely filled out.  I loved to hold Evie constantly, even when she was sleeping.  I always wanted to do everything myself when it came to Evie and I didn’t like accepting help.  I worried about Evie constantly when she started daycare.  I spent a lot of time worrying that I wasn’t doing the right thing.  It was so odd for me to be the one making the decisions.  I knew how to babysit and follow the instructions of other parents, but it was a whole new world to be the one making the decisions.  I worried that I was doing things wrong and that inevitably screw up my baby for life.

Evie

Life With Mitchell

·         Most of time, Evie is demanding more attention that Mitch.  He’s along for the ride.  We’ve been down the newborn road before so we aren’t so focused on what we think we should do.  We focus on what works.    I nurse Mitch when he’s hungry.  We use the bottles we used with Evie.  If he doesn’t like them, we’ll get new ones I guess.  We don’t want to clutter up the house any more than necessary with baby stuff so we barely bought anything  new.  We still take a lot of pictures, but only half of them are of Mitchell.  The other half are of Evie.  Mitchell’s baby book remains unwritten in, but I’ve printed out pictures to put in it and I keep promising that I’ll fill it out just as soon as I have time.  I love holding Mitch, but I understand the value of putting him down to sleep and not disturbing him.  I am learning to appreciate the value of letting other people help.  I still do a lot myself, but I’m learning to let other people do stuff too.  I still worry about my kids while they are in daycare, but not nearly as much.  Evie has been in with a babysitter for over two years now and she’s doing great so I’m confident that Mitchell will do fine too.  It’s not as odd to be the one making the parenting decisions the second time around, but I’m still in awe sometimes that we’re responsible for two kids.  I still worry that I’m doing something wrong or that I’m screwing up my kids, but I know that will never change.  We’re doing the best we can.  Some days are better than others.  On the bad days, after the kids are asleep, Pat and I will have a cocktail and promise to do better tomorrow.  

Mitch

I’d say overall that we are much more relaxed when it comes to Mitchell.  It helps that he seems to be a naturally laid-back little guy.  We’ve evolved into more confident parents, but we still ask a lot of questions.  We want to do the best that we can for our kids, but we know that sometimes we’re going to make mistakes.   That doesn’t make up bad people or horrible parents.  It makes us human and just like everyone else.  Pat and I each have our strengths and weaknesses as parents and I think that we balance each other out most of the time.  Having two kids is so different than having one, but I think we’re doing pretty well!

TBT - My how you've grown!

Swimming & Sand

Over the weekend we went to KY so that I could go to a bridal shower.  We were going to head down Friday, but we all had rough night on Thursday.  Evie has been doing fantastic sleeping in her big girl bed, but Thursday night she woke up crying.  I went in there and she was sitting up, her face cover in blood.  My heart skipped a beat, before I realized that she had gotten a nosebleed.  Once I got that under control, I had to clean Evie up, strip the entire bed, do a load of laundry and then get Evie settled into our bed because she flat out refused to go back to sleep by herself.  Needless to say, I was pretty tired the next day so I opted to not go to KY until Saturday.  

Evie was also sporting a swollen eye thanks to a bug bite and bumping her head on our bed.

We decided to take advantage of the warm weather and take Evie swimming on Saturday.  We haven’t been to a pool this entire summer so we weren’t sure how she’d do.  She loves her baby pool, but she’s hasn’t been swimming in a big pool since we went to Hilton Head a year ago.  We took her to G.G. Mitchell’s pool with Pops, G.G. and my Aunt Shawn.  Pops got in  with her right away – and she loved it!  She showed was jumping off the side and trying to float.  She loved the baby pool and being able to walk around too.  There were some older girls playing in the big pool and Evie wanted so much to do whatever they were doing.  They were playing a game called Jump and Twist and Evie told me that she needed to play Jump and Twist too and joined in their game.  Luckily they didn’t’ mind. J  Mitchell was angel and slept most of time.  We were so grateful to have Aunt Shawn and my grandma there to hold him so that Pops, Pat and I could play with Evie in the water.  Evie cannot wait to go swimming again.  It’s kind of bummer that summer is almost over and the pools are about to close!  We will definitely try and take her to an indoor pool this fall/winter.  

The rest of the weekend was spent just hanging out.  Evie got a kick out of playing with this kinetic  sand that my mom got.  That stuff is awesome!  You can play with it just like real sand, but there is no mess!  Mitch even stuck his feet in it. :)

A Fairly Smooth Adjustment

Well, I’ve been back to work for over two weeks now and we’re starting to get back into our routine again.  In some ways, the transition back to work has been easy.  Lunches are packed the night before, bottles are already made, clothes are set out.  I have to get up earlier to get ready so that I can have time to feed Mitchell before I leave, but so far it hasn’t been a problem.  I’ve been able to get him on a schedule where he eats around 9pm and then sleeps until 2:30 or 3 (sometimes even later!).  This means that he’s ready to eat at 6:15 so I can feed him before I leave.  I’m grateful that he’s a better sleeper than Evie was at this age.  Getting up only once a night, most nights, has been nice, and it’s been easier to get him on a schedule.   This is the only life Evie has ever known so she really had no problem getting back into the swing of things.  It was a little rough the first day, after being away from the sitters for a little while, but by day two she was perfectly fine.  Mitch seems to be adjusting to being with a babysitter fairly well.  The only thing I’ve noticed is that he has suddenly become very fussy in the evenings. I’m not sure if this has anything to do with me going back to work.  I know that babies have fussy periods at certain times of the day so it could just be that.  

One of the hardest parts of going back to work isn’t being at work.  It’s after work.  I am so happy when I can break out of the office and go get my babies.  But I’m not used to having to juggle two kids and give them my attention in this shortened time span.  Before Mitchell, I could devote all of my time to Evie after work.  Even once he was here and Evie went to sitters a few times a week, I was able to give Mitchell my complete attention and then turn my focus to Evie once she got home.  But now it’s so much harder because I’m away from both of them all day long.  I want to be able to give them both my attention after work, but I’m still working out how to do that.  Like I said earlier, Mitchell has been a little fussy in the evenings and really just wants to be held or bounced.  Evie, on the other hand, wants me to “put Baby Mitchell down” and play with her.  It’s been difficult for me to try and balance that, especially if Pat’s not home.  I try and hold Mitchell while I play with Evie or lay him on blanket next to me, but sometimes that’s not good enough.  Evie wants my complete attention (and both my hands free) or Mitchell wants to be walked around.  I’m sure any parent can relate to these moments where you wish you just had another set of hands to take over.  Luckily, most of time Mitchell is a really good baby.  We will all get used to our schedule again with time.

 Juggling two kids aside, I think the hardest part of going back to work for me has been how fast it seems that time passes.  Not the work day, but time in general.  Kids grow up so fast anyway, but it seems like when I’m working, they grow up even faster.  I don’t have all day to just sit and rock Mitch anymore and he just seems older when I pick him up.  And Evie isn’t a baby anymore – she’s a little girl.  Where does the time go?!  I’ve struggled with this before Mitchell was born and I struggle even more with it now.  I wish there was  way I could work and still spend most of the day with my kids.  I don’t want to miss a moment.  I feel like I’m going to blink and they’ll be teenagers.  I hope one day that I’m able to find a better balance between work, family and having some kind of a social life.  Right now, I dedicate almost all of my free time to being with the kids since I’m away from them all day.  It’s work, kids and then fall into bed to get some sleep so that we can wake up and do it all over again.  The house is a mess, there are piles of laundry that need to be folded and Evie’s room remains half finished.  I don’t know how people do it all! 

Too Funny....

 Yesterday I picked up the kids from the sitter’s and was informed that Evie will not let anyone near Mitch.  Whenever another kid comes near him, she runs around and screams “NO!  That’s my baby Mitchell!  That’s my brother”.  Apparently she is very protective.  I was also informed that Titi’s neighbors have a chicken and it got lose in Titi’s backyard.  The kids were chasing it around and even got close enough to touch it.  Titi said Evie was having a lot of fun and Evie thought that it was hilarious.  I’m not crazy about her touching a chicken, but hopefully she washed her hands before she ate anything! 

So I pick them up and we go home.  I pull into the driveway and Evie burst into tears.  I had no idea what was wrong. I asked her and, in between sobs, she told me that she wanted to go home.  I told her that we were home and she just kept crying and saying no.  I got her out of her seat and she bolted out of the garage and into the front yard.  She pointed at our house and said to me, in a very accusing voice, ‘This is not our house!  Our door not blue.  It’s green”.  Somehow she just noticed that we had our house painted.  I assured her that this was indeed our house and when we went inside, she looked so relieved.  I said “See?  We’re home”.  She turned around and gave me a hug and said “Thank you so much Mama”.  Then she ran into the family room and picked up one of her stuffed animals, hugged it and said “I missed  you so much!”  What a silly girl!

Later, I was changing Mitch’s diaper and I heard Evie getting into something.  When I went back into the family room, she was nowhere to be seen.  I found her sitting in a corner behind a chair eating a bag of carrots that she had gotten out of my lunchbox.  She grinned at me and looked guilty since she didn’t ask first.  I told her she had to ask next time, but to eat as many as she wanted.  I’m not taking a vegetable away from her!

She makes us laugh every day!