Family Alive

I’ll be truthful here. Adjusting to two kids is hard. I’m trying to take it moment by moment, and we are doing pretty good, I’d say. But it is overwhelming to be needed so much. That’s one thing about having kids… you have to give up so much of “you” and “your time”. It is definitely worth it, and as they get older, there’s more down time for you. But right now with the addition of #2 to our family, it feels like between the needs of the two of them and the daily needs of life (meals, dishes, laundry), there’s nothing left over for me. And when Brian is so sweet and offers to take care of them so I can go out and get coffee or whatever, I’d much rather nap, or I get caught up on other things I’ve got to do and before I know it, my window of opportunity to leave has disappeared. That’s the other thing I’d forgotten about having a newborn… there is NO multi-tasking when you have a floppy little baby nursing every 2 hours. You can just sit, snuggle your little one, and make mental lists of all the things you’d like to get done (like writing thank you notes and sending out baby announcements). And two hours later, you find yourself in the glider rocker again, nursing, and the list is the same. I know it’ll improve. I have to be honest, though, and say that adjusting to 2 is HARD. I’m surprised so many venture to have a #3 (or #4 or more!!! Amazing people…)! But then there are the quiet moments like I just had: Josiah dozing, snuggled in my arm, and Analise curled up next to us on the couch. It IS all worth it. Above photo:Our first photo of Analise holding Josiah. We got about 10 pictures, but this is as good as it gets. She was very gentle with him, but when she was done wanting to hold him, she just sort of let him go and sort of dropped him. Thankfully, he was resting on my leg, and I had my hand right there. Below photo: Snuggled up on the couch with my sweet little ones after the patriotic celebration at Brian’s parents church.

All in all, we’re doing pretty well. I’m tired, of course. The sleep deprivation is catching up to me. It wasn’t so bad at first, maybe because my body remembered it from not-too-long-ago with Analise. But we’ve been well taken care of. We’ve had friends from church bring us delicious meals a couple days of each week. Josiah’s 4 weeks old today! He’s awake more, with his sweet wide blue eyes. Analise is doing great. She’s learning to be patient with me when I have my hands full with Josiah, and I’m learning when I can set him down and help her. It’s a balancing act – literally! Below photo: A thoughful Josiah resting on my arm – his favorite place to rest – at the patriotic celebration.

One little side note I have to relate… today’s the first day in about 9 months that I’ve worn non-pregnant non-elastic waist pants:) Small victory, gotta celebrate it. I’m only 7 pounds over what I weighed when I got pregnant with Josiah (still a few more over where I was before A, but we’ll take things one step at a time). Below photo: Anlaise got a new (used) bed! A neighbor of a friend gave it to us. It’s in great condition, and it’s got a dollhouse/bookcase headboard. It’s low to the ground, and we’re hoping that by August or so, she’ll be ready to try sleeping in it. Here’s a picture just after we got it set up, as she’s invited “everyone” (stuffed animals and Josiah) to join her on the bed.

Ok, for the blog-reading faithful, as a reward for listing to my honesty, here’s some pictures of life in the Toone house. Slight disclaimer – they’re not the best, but I think most of you (particularly the far-away grandmas and grandpa!) don’t care and just want to see glimpses of the cute little ones. Below photos: Analise enjoying the baskets of clean laundry. She wanted Josiah to join her:) Lastly, we’re having a hard time keeping Josiah’s pacifier out of Analise’s hands. She thinks her stuffed animals – particularly Ernie – need something to suck on.