A Month with Our Abbie Rae ❤️
The transition from one to two kids has been easier than I imagined. Knock on wood, right?! I've nannied for over a decade and Lincoln has had children around since he was first born, so I think that helped him get used to the idea quickly. I didn't think he'd grasp the situation at first, but he really surprised me in the hospital. We'd always talked to my belly and told him Baby Sister was coming, but I didn't think it clicked. Not long after I had her, Lincoln came to visit. He was playing nearby and noticed Abbie Rae in the room. "Oh! Baby Sister!" and continued on. It was so cool! We hadn't introduced them yet, so it was awesome to see him grasp it on his own. Soon after we did a meet and greet and he got to hold her. And then my heart exploded!
Life kind of stops when you have a baby. We almost went home at the 24 hour mark, but we decided to stay the second night. I'm glad we did. Abbie Rae was cluster feeding like a maniac and I was so tired. With Lincoln I didn't sleep almost the entire time we were at the hospital. The adrenaline of everything was intense. I was thrown off with him coming a month early, my milk hadn't come in yet, etc. I was pumping around the clock (and triple feeding, which is a PAIN) and stressed about being a new mom. This time around I slept as much as I could. Round two was way less stressful.
We got back into the groove of everything and our new normal. My mom was still in town, Thomas had half days at work, and my Dad came into town for a few days. Once my parents left, we were able to get into a new routine. I was feeling great immediately after having Abbie Rae. I'm thinking it was a combination of my body remembering how to "stretch" that way, no epidural, etc. With Lincoln I waddled for weeks and laid around in bed trying to figure out breastfeeding and just being a mom. It was a lot of healing and sleeping. With Abbie Rae, I got home from the hospital and cleaned the house! The following day we went to a Fall Festival down the street. My mom and I even seriously considered going to a 2 day church conference that weekend with a 4 day old baby! Life stopped for a minute, but it picked right back up again.
Thomas is busy juggling us, work, grad school, Boy Scouts (he's the Scout leader AND in charge of all the teenage boys at church as the President), exchange student program, a new puppy, etc. His boss asked him how everything is going. That was when he listed off everything and realized how much he had going on! He's so good at finding a balance with everything. Some weeks we don't see him a lot, but he always makes sure to take time on the weekends. I love Fall, so I made sure to drag him and the kids to every Fall festival I could find. We had a blast with the amazing weather and fun festivals.
Trying to keep up on housework, a newborn, a toddler and his buddy I watch has been a little crazy. Some days I look around at the chaos of piles of laundry and toys strewn about and cringe. Other days I'm just too dang tired to care. I try to focus on one room, project,or area a day to stay productive. Sometimes Thomas pulls clean undies out of the laundry basket for a few days before I get a chance to put it away. And that's just okay!
We got our first bout of colds when Abbie Rae was about 2 weeks old. So now we're all going on 2 solid weeks of runny noses, sniffles, coughs, sore throats, goopy eyes, and painful earaches. T'is the season! I wasn't super hyper about Lincoln and germs and I'm not super hyper with Abbie Rae either. But as it gets colder I'm getting more picky about where we go and what we do. I don't want to spread our germs and I definitely don't want to pick up new ones anywhere. We've been fortunate enough to be able to let Lincoln's fever simmer without meds or the doctor. I feel like you go to the doctor with one sickness only to pick up new germs while you're there! Last year we went for Lincoln's well check and he picked up the Hand, Foot, Mouth virus. So now I've been burned and avoid it if we can! Lincoln did complain about his ears hurting at one point, but that seems to have faded. Thank goodness!
All in all we're having a blast. The other day we were singing songs in our jammies in bed. Lincoln's latest love is Old McDonald. I sang to Abbie Rae and she looked up at me with her Grumpy Cat face that she always makes. Lincoln asked for more E-I-E-I-O. And I got to soak up a burst of happy with my babies. I love being a mom so much. And I'm so grateful to be able to stay home with them. Thomas takes such good care of us and we are so blessed to have him. I loved watching him transition into a father with Lincoln, and I'm really loving watching him love on his little princess that finally made it earthside.
Life kind of stops when you have a baby. We almost went home at the 24 hour mark, but we decided to stay the second night. I'm glad we did. Abbie Rae was cluster feeding like a maniac and I was so tired. With Lincoln I didn't sleep almost the entire time we were at the hospital. The adrenaline of everything was intense. I was thrown off with him coming a month early, my milk hadn't come in yet, etc. I was pumping around the clock (and triple feeding, which is a PAIN) and stressed about being a new mom. This time around I slept as much as I could. Round two was way less stressful.
We got back into the groove of everything and our new normal. My mom was still in town, Thomas had half days at work, and my Dad came into town for a few days. Once my parents left, we were able to get into a new routine. I was feeling great immediately after having Abbie Rae. I'm thinking it was a combination of my body remembering how to "stretch" that way, no epidural, etc. With Lincoln I waddled for weeks and laid around in bed trying to figure out breastfeeding and just being a mom. It was a lot of healing and sleeping. With Abbie Rae, I got home from the hospital and cleaned the house! The following day we went to a Fall Festival down the street. My mom and I even seriously considered going to a 2 day church conference that weekend with a 4 day old baby! Life stopped for a minute, but it picked right back up again.
Thomas is busy juggling us, work, grad school, Boy Scouts (he's the Scout leader AND in charge of all the teenage boys at church as the President), exchange student program, a new puppy, etc. His boss asked him how everything is going. That was when he listed off everything and realized how much he had going on! He's so good at finding a balance with everything. Some weeks we don't see him a lot, but he always makes sure to take time on the weekends. I love Fall, so I made sure to drag him and the kids to every Fall festival I could find. We had a blast with the amazing weather and fun festivals.
Trying to keep up on housework, a newborn, a toddler and his buddy I watch has been a little crazy. Some days I look around at the chaos of piles of laundry and toys strewn about and cringe. Other days I'm just too dang tired to care. I try to focus on one room, project,or area a day to stay productive. Sometimes Thomas pulls clean undies out of the laundry basket for a few days before I get a chance to put it away. And that's just okay!
We got our first bout of colds when Abbie Rae was about 2 weeks old. So now we're all going on 2 solid weeks of runny noses, sniffles, coughs, sore throats, goopy eyes, and painful earaches. T'is the season! I wasn't super hyper about Lincoln and germs and I'm not super hyper with Abbie Rae either. But as it gets colder I'm getting more picky about where we go and what we do. I don't want to spread our germs and I definitely don't want to pick up new ones anywhere. We've been fortunate enough to be able to let Lincoln's fever simmer without meds or the doctor. I feel like you go to the doctor with one sickness only to pick up new germs while you're there! Last year we went for Lincoln's well check and he picked up the Hand, Foot, Mouth virus. So now I've been burned and avoid it if we can! Lincoln did complain about his ears hurting at one point, but that seems to have faded. Thank goodness!
All in all we're having a blast. The other day we were singing songs in our jammies in bed. Lincoln's latest love is Old McDonald. I sang to Abbie Rae and she looked up at me with her Grumpy Cat face that she always makes. Lincoln asked for more E-I-E-I-O. And I got to soak up a burst of happy with my babies. I love being a mom so much. And I'm so grateful to be able to stay home with them. Thomas takes such good care of us and we are so blessed to have him. I loved watching him transition into a father with Lincoln, and I'm really loving watching him love on his little princess that finally made it earthside.
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