A Baby Circus

The past 5 weeks, friends have come up to us with wide eyes, an air of curiosity and amazement asking us "how are you handling two babies a year apart????"

 

Well here is the answer:

 

We are living in a baby circus.

 

I feel like I go from one ring to the other, constantly holding one baby, or both. Feeding one, then feeding the other, then feeding myself, changing a diaper, changing another, changing clothes, changing another diaper, rocking one to sleep, putting the other down for a nap...and it just is one continual round.  I sometimes get dressed and brush my teeth. I am sure having twin newborns would be harder, but this seems like it would be similar to having twins! It is wild at our place. 

 

But it is getting better, and I think it will keep getting better as time goes on.  I will get more of a routine down and I'm sure I will someday sleep again, right??? :)

 

Thank goodness I have a loving, supportive husband.  Here he is on his birthday.  He is very busy at work - he's swamped and "treading water" (in his own words) with his new role.  But he comes home and helps me and tells me I look good even when I haven't showered in 3 days....

 

 And thank goodness my two girls have happy dispositions.  They are both very sweet and I am very blessed.

 

 

 

 The next question friends ask us is, "how is Brielle liking being a big sister?"

 

Here is the answer:

 

Her life has turned upside-down and she hasn't seemed to notice.

 

That's the good thing about the babies being one year apart.  Brielle is too young to be jealous.  She doesn't cry when I'm holding Rosalyn, or purposely try to hurt her as I've heard other older children sometimes do.  She knows Rosalyn is alive and not a toy, and seems to be fascinated by her.  She looks for Rosalyn when I get her up from naps. She loves to take off her socks and headbands. She loves to touch her and give her "pats" on the head.  Too bad she doesn't understand "be soft" yet! Brielle doesn't wake up when Rosalyn cries at night (we have a great white noise machine!), and sleeps through the night great still.  Everyone warned me that Brielle would "regress" in some way when the baby was born....but so far I haven't noticed anything negative. I think that's the perk with having babies so close.  

 

But there are challenges with babies a year apart.  For example, getting them both into the car is a challenge.  I can't put both in the car seats at the same time.  I have to leave one in the condo while I strap the other one in her car seat. I'm assuming this is what people do with twins? But I don't like leaving one in the car while I get the other. I haven't figured out a way to do this yet.  I've tried carrying the infant car seat and Brielle and that is a sight to see.  It just doesn't work so far. 

 

Other challenges?

 

Well, I thought the fact that Brielle still takes naps would be a perk. But it has been a challenge so far.  The girls seem to have some sort of conspiracy going on between them - when one wakes up, the other falls asleep.  The chance of them both taking naps at the same time so far has been rare and disappointing.  I have hope this will get better though as Roz gets older. I dream of a time when both girls are napping at the same time ....and then I get a nap too. :) ahhhhh....

 

Both girls are so young and still so needy. Their needs are both still so immediate.  Brielle is still too young to comprehend that I'm busy with Rosalyn and can't get her out of her high chair just yet. Her needs are immediate just as Rosalyn's needs. When they are hungry, they are hungry NOW.  It would help if Brielle could wait, but she's just still very young for patience.  This too, will improve with time as Brielle gets older.

 

Some people call me crazy, but I just need to get out of the house every day.  Even as hard as it is with two little ones. I love the Fall weather, and so I take the girls to different parks and let Brielle run around a little.  I think it is good for both of us since we are cooped up in our little place. It isn't too hard when Brielle can roam free in a safe place where I know she won't get hurt - like a big, grassy field. :)  She is all over the place walking everywhere and has no fear.  She never turns around to see if I am around, and will pick up and climb up and walk off anything she can. It has been challenging keeping my eye on her by myself, let alone with a newborn in tow. She doesn't understand "stop", "come back", "don't eat that", "don't touch that".....important things she should know since I am slow to grab her. So it is always an adventure going outside. But I do it anyway!   

 

I knew my life would be crazy busy with these cutie pies, but I didn't realize it would be so physically demanding.  I am constantly moving all day long. It's a rare treat to sit and write this blog post. ha! In fact, I've been working on this post for several weeks now. :)  I tell Jeff often, "I can't get anything done!" but it's not like I'm not doing anything...it's that I can't get anything done that I want to do.  But I have learned it is very possible to multi task while nursing.  I won't tell you all the crazy things I've accomplished while feeding Rosalyn. :)

 

Thank goodness I have family nearby to help me out. Special thanks to my family for the trips to my place to help me! They have been lifesavers.

 

Jeff had to go out of town for a week for work training, so I decided to go home and we turned it into a girls weekend. Marie flew in from Provo, and we had a fun visit.  Here are some pictures I have from it:

 

Auntie M with baby R!

The girls went to the mall one night and bought Marie some boots.  Of course Grandma had to buy Brielle her own first set of boots too!

 

We had some yummy food while I was there! My Mom makes sure we never go hungry.

 

We played dress up...I put curlers in B's hair for fun. They gave her a little curl which was cute.  We all put on costumes going through the costume boxes for Halloween.  There are tons and tons of fun costumes collected over the years! That was fun.

 

My Mother is a Disney Princess. No joke, these birds just flew up and landed on her over and over again. Out of the blue. They wouldn't land on anyone else!

 

 It being a girls weekend, we did a Halloween craft.  And where did we get inspiration for the craft? Why, Pinterest of course!

 

I felt a little crafty with my baby:

 

 

 

 

We enjoyed the beautiful fall leaves and changing colors.  I don't know if there is much prettier than Washington in the fall.  I love seeing the variety of colors and leaves in our beautiful forest all around us! Here is sleepy Rosalyn. 

 

And now I'm back on my own.  It's wonderful to have family nearby to help me when I need, and it is also nice to be at my own place and cuddling with my two girlies.  There are definitely some challenges that arise with two so close, but there are challenges that come anytime a new baby is added to a family.  I wouldn't change any of it, and am thrilled with my life right now.

Every day I get to know Rosalyn a little bit better, and know what her needs are and how to meet them.  It's great, and it's only going to get better. 

Now if only I could get Brielle to feed, dress herself and be potty trained....