Well, as you all know, we went from being a family of four to a family of five on January 15th. Life's been going great since then, too, in case you're wondering.
I've had several people ask me, "What's it like going from two kids to three?"
My only answer is, It's an adjustment, and we're slowly figuring things out. However, it's not as hard as I was really expecting.
(Maybe that's due to the fact that: Clarence and Adina just adore Clifford - there's no jealousy whatsoever; my husband works here at home, so I can sleep in if I need to; we've been getting meals from loving and caring friends and church members since we came home from the hospital; our families have been great at helping out - especially right when we got home; I can just be home and figure things out - as do most new mothers...we have a few weeks to adjust to a new routine before going back and trying to fit our old routine in with the new one.)
There are only two real things that make it hard.
#1: It's winter; my other two kids have too much energy to be cooped up in the house all day with me. :) So, Clarence has been helping with chores a lot, and on the days where the weather is tolerable, I send them out to play, even if it's only for 15-30 minutes...at least they wear off a little energy trudging through the snow.
#2: Going anywhere. It's a chore. I start planning the night before how to go about my morning. When should I wake up, when should I get myself ready, then the two older kids, then Clifford, then worry about pumping right before we go so I'll have a bottle for Clifford while we're gone. Our outings have gone okay, it just takes a lot of planning - and help....again, I'm thankful Matt's home with a flexible schedule!
This morning, I sent Clarence and Adina out to play. They've been inside way too much lately, and they need to play outside and work off their "winter bellies". So, out they went, quite happily. Matt's made a big snow hill right out the front door that they like to climb on and sled down. They did that for a little bit, then walked through the knee-high snow over to Clarence's calf pen.
From here, I lost sight of them. So, a little bit later, I went out to check on them and make sure they were okay and safe. I found them out in the barn, safe, but Adina was crying. She was crying because when they were over at Clarence's calf pen, he'd told her that he heard a big buck and that it was coming. So they went to the barn. Once they got there, her glove fell off, so her fingers were cold. I calmed her down and told her that bucks don't come in the yard when it's light out - because they don't like people. She didn't really seem to believe me.
That's when Clarence said, "This morning, I heard a big buck down north. There was a timberwolf chasing it."
(Ok, Clarence...thanks. I'm glad you're so good at hearing big bucks. :) ) Apparently this is what he'd told Adina, so she was scared the buck was coming to get her. She told me she'd come in the house with me and help me "make hupper". Such a nice girl!
And, as for Clifford, he's a great baby. We're sure blessed to have such good, healthy babies. There were a couple nights he decided to stay up with me and just look around, wanting to be held, but we've seemed to figure that out now. I try to keep him up during the day for two or three, one to two hour stretches, so then he'll sleep well for the night. It also helps to give him a bath before bed - it seems to make him sleep better. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not really getting tons of sleep yet, but we're slowly figuring the sleep part out. And, surprisingly, even though the lack of sleep was one thing I was dreading the most, my body just seems to adjust to the lack of it and I don't feel overly tired...thankfully!
Well, hopefully now I'll get back to more regular posts....hope you're enjoying the beautiful, snowy day!
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