Adding two kids in four months to our family has sent us wheeling in a lot of ways. We also feel so blessed in many ways as well! We feel lucky that we have the means to provide a safe, healthy, and loving environment for Addison. Garrett and her are getting along so well, love playing together and our family has molded around her. She seems to have thrived in the structured environment in our home constantly asking questions, wanting to help cook dinner, and constantly wanting to have an interaction and connection.
Things have also been hard, Abigail and even Garrett are sometimes up multiple times a night. There are fights between the older two, tears about things not being fair, and Addison (understandably so) can be over emotional. It is a fine balance to keep everyone feed, happy, disciplined and well rested. One that is exhausting and almost never obtainable. But it does make those moments when I am making dinner, Abigail is napping, Addison is coloring at the kitchen counter talking with me and Garrett is playing quietly with his trains very sweet and rewarding.
The other thing I have noticed about multiplying children, even with a 5 year old and a 3 year old, someone is always hungry. I cannot keep enough food in the house! This is especially true with Addison. She can eat two bowls of oatmeal for breakfast, oatmeal that has fried apples and raisins in it and then tell me 20 minutes later, while she is in line at school that she is hungry. We are constantly going through snacks, and then telling them they have to wait for lunch, dinner, etc. to eat again.
Then there is the laundry...I am learning that if I don't just take a day and do it, including folding and putting away, we are constantly doing laundry. All. Week. Long. Digging through piles on our bed, and moving piles from our bed to the bench back to the bed, back to the bench, back to the bed, which is even more annoying than just pushing myself to do it all in one day. And we basically end up doing laundry all week anyway between accidents at night, spills during the day and Garrett's bloody noses! Aggghh, and re-reading that paragraph just made me exhausted...
I am constantly telling myself to let go of the things like the laundry, dirty bathrooms, and dog hair everywhere and just enjoy the kids. To give them what they really need which is my time and attention. They are only young once and the bathrooms can wait. The laundry will just get dirty again and pile up in a corner.
I try to make myself sit with Abigail drinking in the smell of her neck soaked with baby drool and spit-up, that smell that makes my heart skip a beat just thinking about it. To make her giggle and soak in that toothless grin, that is now blemished with one little tooth.
To tune into Garrett's constant chatter as he and I are painting his Halloween costume and he is so into what he is trying to tell me that he has been talking for the last 20 minutes and completely stopped painting.
To let Addison help me with dinner, pulling up a stool and wanting to help measure, see the noodles boil and to just be next to me with my undivided attention for 10 minutes. Her face lighting up when I tickle her or tease her.
We have been busy and the adjustments have been hard at times but the blessings that we see and the richness and joy of the kids makes it all worth the crazy!
