Life Lately

Adjusting to two boys 12 months and 10 days apart has been a feat, but I'm happy to report that after 7 weeks, we feel like we FINALLY have a grasp on things. A very loose grasp. In fact, I feel my fingers slipping as I type, but a grasp is a grasp nonetheless.

Somehow, by the grace of God, we have survived this long and dare I say, have a routine?
Ever since we brought Shepherd home from the hospital, Henry has had some sleep issues. At first we attributed it to teething, then this constant ear infection that he cannot shake, but now I think we both realize that Henry's sleep regression is about Shepherd. He takes up a lot of our time and as a 7 week old isn't near as independent at Henry, so Henry gets his mama and daddy snuggles all throughout the night because we are officially bed-sharing with a 14 month old y'all. Our house is straight survival mode, we are doing what works, and right now, this works. And I'll admit, those middle of the night snuggles are pretty awesome.  Will I regret this later? Probably so. Do I enjoy it now, oh most definitely.

We have slowly been getting into a "routine" around here, and I am the type of person that needs structure and routine. I use the term routine very loosely here, but some things happen daily just like clockwork.

Our mornings start with an alarm. That alarm can be in the form of Henry, Shep, or on the rarest occasion, an actual alarm. I have almost forgotten what it sounds like. The steady screaming BEEPBEEPBEEP doesn't wake me nearly as good as a screaming babe can. And daddy can hear that horrible BEEPBEEPBEEP, but not the babies...mama's and daddy's have different hearing capabilities for sure.

We grab Henry as he unhappily wakes from the incessant BEEPBEEPBEEP and put him in his high chair for yogurt and milk and Mickey Mouse. I then rush to Shepherd's side, snatch him up, and start nursing while Henry eats and daddy showers. Once daddy is dressed is ready, I lay Shepherd down and go make myself look human. Some days this involves makeup, some days it's just brushing the teeth; those are the days when my give a damn is well on its way to be broken. And I'm sure it's obvious to the outside world. I'm pretty good at hiding my fat rolls and my crazy, but a broken give a damn is hard to hide.

Henry is officially 14 months old. He loves being outside. He cries when we can't play. He loves playing basketball with us. He rocks 18-24 month and 2T clothes like a champ. He will try almost anything, but honestly hates eggs and lunchmeat...he's going to be a weird eater like his mama.

My sweet Shepherd is 7.5 weeks old; wearing 3-6 month clothes and wearing size 3 diapers. We never had a newborn. Seriously. He never wore newborn diapers or clothes. We are still nursing on demand and will continue to do so. I have no set goal about breastfeeding this time. We take it one day at a time. So far, he's exclusively breastfed and it's pretty damn amazing. It's so much easier the second time around. You know what to expect (for the most part) and are willing to give up your time and autonomy and sense of self to completely devote yourself to nursing. You give up showers and warm meals and big kid snuggles to nurse. It's exhausting and exhilarating at the same time. On one hand, I think I'm a badass for doing so well with nursing (even pumping at night if daddy is on baby duty) and sometimes it's the most frustrating and painful thing in the world and I want to quit. One (hyphenated) word: milk-blister :(

I've never been one of those people to sugarcoat anything and I don't plan on starting now. I'm honest to a fault. I'll say right now, having two kids one year apart is hard. So freaking hard. A hard that is unfathomable. I haven't had a single moment alone in the 7 weeks that Shepherd has been around. Literally. Bath time, bathroom breaks, running to the store...there is always one of my shadows there. But you know what? This is also the most fun I've ever had. Watching Henry grow and learn and work hard to make us laugh is the best thing in the entire world. They way he interacts with Shepherd gives me hope for the future that they really will be best friends. And when Shep smiled for the first time? Yeah, my heart stopped. So it may be hard, and everyone thinks we are drowning, but you know what? We aren't. We may not be swimming, but we sure as hell aren't sinking. We are treading water.

You know what makes all this easier? Having a spouse like mine. I guarantee you he was a saint in a previous life. I never would have married someone who I didn't think would make a good daddy, but this guy exceeds my expectations daily. I've said it before, but it can't be said enough, I married up. He loves his boys like crazy. And treats their mama like she isn't a hot mess who hasn't showered in days. Lucky? Definitely.

Enough rambling, I know why you are here - pictures!!


Here's what's been happening in photos...they can tell a much better story than I can.

Stole some daddy snuggles

Took some sink baths

Played on my slide while eating a donut

There were hissy fits.

and popsicles.

And sliding

And this ADORABLE face

A couple of baths

The sweetest of baby bellybuttons

A face that (what?) almost resembles me?!

The biggest 6 week old I ever did see

 And now for some iPhone snaps on the past few weeks...

There was nursing. And a lot of it.

A few funny faces.

Nursing on a nose didn't work :(

Meeting his great grandmother.

Couch naps!

More adorableness

Living on the edge...of the changing table. And yeah, that's a baby, on the floor.

Our new bed partner.

Morning are rough.

Riding in the car...MUST. EAT.

Helping papaw set up the skeet shooter for Daddy.

At some point, once we creep out of survival mode, I plan on actually taking photos of the boys together. It just isn't feasible right now. We did have our photo session with the AMAZING Joy Prouty of Wildflowers Photography and I plan to share them once we get them, but her family is in the middle of another transition so it may be a while :(

Eventually there will be photos of the boys together. Eventually.