karaspeak

So the time has come and one month has passed. While I knew it would get here, I just never realize how fast it's going to approach. And it's already come and gone like a blink. My how time flies...even more so when you have two. The fun part about this week was the day Teagan turned 4 weeks, Aiden was 21 months, so it was a special milestone of sorts for both my kiddos. Hard to believe in a few more weeks, my "baby Aiden" will already be two! That is scary.

The past month has had it's fair share of ups and downs, but for the most part has been so fun. We've taken road trips, seen family, had friends over, and explored the great wide world or running errands with our two babies. I have truly enjoyed being at home with them and watching Aiden coo over his baby sister, giving her kiss after kiss all day long. It is so special for me to be able to watch as a Mom, but also as just an observer...to see his sweet spirit and joy over life. How I pray that will never go away.

Baby Teagan is doing great and growing like a champ. We still have some minor "BM" issues, but we're working through those and helping little Miss get her groove on with the poo. She had grown to 6 lbs. 10 oz. at her second doctor's visit, so she's slowly creeping out of her preemie clothes, which is great news.

No one can truly ever prepare you for being a parent of two little ones. While it's plenty scary in theory (which I experienced a lot while pregnant!), reality is a whole different animal. Not sure if it's sleep deprivation or sheer parental stress, but it's both the most work and the most joy one can experience simultaneously...of this I am quite convinced. It is a tiring adventure of wills and strength, but one I am grateful to be living. Amidst all of this new stuff in our world, we have had some earth shattering news break through our sunshine of happiness and bring in some potentially gloomy clouds. However grim it may seem, we are hoping with eternal optimism that God's provision will continue and we will find hope in the face of doubt.

If there is one thing I am sure, it is that I am so in love...with my Aiden, with my Teagan, with my Nathan, and with my God more now than I ever have been before. His amazing love and compassion is evident more and more every day in the faces and in the lives of these people he has put with me along side to be my family for life. I am blessed more than words.

So here it is...after two weeks of newborn bliss, filled with date nights(which most people don't get sometimes even the whole first year their baby is alive!) and six extra sets of hands, which I am so grateful for, my parents have left to go back home, Nathan is set to return to work after having two weeks off, and I am faced with the prospect of managing this new life alone.  Did I already say it would be six - yes, SIX, hands short of what I've had the past two weeks. That means the only hands are my two seemingly incapable hands for an entire week. Aiden doesn't have school this week due to Spring Break, so that means five full days of two tots under two and it's up to me to figure out what to do with them. This prospect is frighteningly scary and makes me utterly sick to my stomach.

So, my brilliant hubby thought of an amazing plan. Since I'm not working, he suggested I just go and spend the week at my parents' house and have at least part time help (since they get off work much earlier than he does and would be available in the morning, too). It would allow him to not have to feel pressured to come home early, and would give me a week in training...it was a training wheels kind of week. Although I was unsure about how it would all work out, I headed out first thing Monday morning with my little chicka in tow to see what this week would hold.

While there were moments of craziness, the week went altogether quite smoothly considering the circumstances. We got to go to the park at least three days and I was able to run - even some on my own! We had some great dinners at Panera with good conversation and lots of laughs. I managed to handle even some terribly stressful situations - teagan was crying, aiden set off the carbon monoxide detector, which proceeded to scream loudly at all of us and didn't stop when unplugged, causing Aiden to cry...so here I am with two kids crying, alarm going off, on the phone with my mom trying to get a breath to figure out how to get it all to stop...and it was in that moment I wondered how many moments would be just like this in the months and years to come. And, of course, I just had to laugh and think about how this would look to me not only five days from now, but five years from now...and how far I would have come in those five years.  (Or at least I hope so!)

The family brainstormed about a way to get Nathan to their house and drive back with me so I didn't have to ride home with both kiddos. We managed to find a way (thanks, Bud!) and made it back home safe and sound.

All in all, the week was successful and showed me that I have what it takes (or at least think I do!) to manage this life with two kids. It's such a different world from doing work and one kid, it's such a different world than just having one, but it's a world I am so incredibly grateful for and one I look forward to watching unfold with anxious anticipation. How will the next few months be with the two kids? How close will they be as they grow up? How will Aiden protect his baby sister as she grows up? It will be such an interesting (and fun) journey to watch unfold. Though I am scared out of my mind about how it's going to work (I'm still not sure I can do it...), I am so excited.