Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Being a Mom of 2

On January 22, 2013, my world was ROCKED. Little baby Maleah was born and life as I knew it was changed forever. No one can ever prepare you for the process of going from a married couple to a couple of parents. No book, no anecdotal advice, no amount of watching friends do it... nope, nothing can prepare you for the way your life changes after your first child.

I remember struggling so badly with the 3-hour schedule. I felt like we were chained to this incessant wheel of feed-play-sleep. I remember resenting how long it took to get Maleah settled for bed - how am I going to spend an hour of my life every night getting this tiny person ready for bed?  I remember crying over lost sleep, crying over room-temperature cups of coffee, crying over her crying. 

I finally settled in to being a parent. All those things I found so difficult in the beginning slowly but surely just became part of who I am. And, no longer did I resent the bedtime routine... it actually became my favorite time of day. I don't miss the "freedom" I had before Maleah came along... and, frankly, during the times she's spending the night with a grandparent and we're able to do things kid-free, I'm really just counting down the hours until she's with us again. 

So when we found out we were expecting baby #2, I wasn't really sure how to prepare myself. How much more change would there be? How would I handle it? How would Blake and Maleah handle it? How could I stretch myself even more to care for another child? 

Honestly, the adjustment to two children has not been as difficult as I imagined. If Blake weren't as helpful as he is, I might be having a tougher time. But usually when things are hectic, we divide and conquer. We each take a kid and handle whatever needs to be handled. The hardest part, so far, about having two children is the heartache of not being able to be in two places at once. 

The other difficult adjustment has been helping Maleah transition to being a big sister. She has been the center of our world and, while we have tried not to spoil her, I know (as an only child, myself) that it's very different to suddenly have to wait... or to share... or to be told "no". She has adjusted fairly well, but also being almost-3 means she is changing in addition to the change of having a baby sister. 

The best part about being a mom of 2, though, is really simple. Snuggling both of them at once is like the greatest feeling ever. These two beautiful little girls didn't exist just a few years ago. Blake and I haven't even been married five years and, yet, we have these new people to call our own. It is such an amazing thing!

And who knows... maybe I'll eventually be writing about being a mom of 3. :) 

Sunday, November 8, 2015

Two Months of Macey!

Two months ago, Macey Ellen came into our lives and - WOW! - what a crazy two months it has been! Macey is still just the sweetest little baby! She is very mellow and easygoing. She is the perfect addition to our family!

So... I'm gonna keep this short and sweet!

Eat = Macey eats every 3 hours and goes 7-8 hours at night. She takes between 3-4 ounces at each feeding and seems to tolerate it well! We are trying to wean her from the 5 a.m. feeding since it is so close to our desired wake-up time (now 6:30 am instead of 7 since I have to go back to work tomorrow!). She has started spitting up a little more, but she doesn't seemed bothered by it! Macey is also a very busy eater - sometimes she wiggles around so much while she eats that it's hard to hold her! 

Activity = Macey smiles SO much! Half of her awake time is spent with us getting her to smile! She loves the little mobile on her swing... makes me wonder if we should get one for her crib. She holds her head up fairly well and has also started turning her head towards noise. According to "Wonder Weeks," she's currently in a leap where she should start being even more aware of her surroundings. So, far, I'd say that's true! She is definitely more aware of us, who's doing what, and looks around to figure out what's happening in the room. Thankfully Macey is also usually really good about being put down... it's hard to juggle two kids sometimes, so I'm glad she's happy to chill in her bouncer while we attend to the other kiddo!

Sleep = Sleep... oh, sleep... while Macey does go 7-8 hours between feedings at night, she still cries out or makes noises for other reasons during the night. We're currently trying to stop using the rocking motion on her Rock & Play because she wakes up as soon as it turns off! She has become dependent on it. Eventually the goal is to move her into her & Maleah's room, but we want her to be sleeping soundly through the night first. Naps are pretty good... she sleeps for about 1.5-2 hours at a time (with some random waking). 

Our daily routine looks a little like this... the morning has been a little crazy because she's waking during the 5 o'clock hour, but so far this works most days:

5-5:30 a.m. - Macey wakes to eat, we get up for the day
6:30 - try to get Macey to take another 2-4oz, get both girls up and ready for the day
9:30/12:30/3:30 - Macey eats
6pm - we eat dinner
6:30 - Macey eats, then we do baths and play until bedtime
7:30 - Macey usually falls asleep by this time and we start getting Maleah off to bed 
10pm - Blake feeds Macey a "dream feed" and we go to bed!

I also pump during the day... right now at 5:15, 7:45, 11:15, 2:15, 5:15, 9:30. I'm trying to change to 5:15, 7:45, 11:45, 3:45, 9:30... but I'm going to wait until after Thanksgiving to do that.

Life is going great... it's really hard, to be honest, but it's worth it! We love our girls so much and want to provide the best little life for them! It can be quite challenging at times, but I have never had a better job!!!