I am going to be truthful and tell you that since Carter was born it has not been easy! I know everyone said that having more than one child was tough, but dang, I did not believe just how tough it was going to be! Even though it has been a rough 9 months we are starting to see the light. Let me give you a little background. Ever since Carter graced us with his presence I have had little to no sleep! The child just did not like to sleep through the night or during the day. After about 7-8 months of him waking 4 - 5 times in the middle of the night and sometimes more I stopped telling myself that this would pass soon and he is only little once and all of that good stuff that you try to tell yourself to make it a little better! Well, a little after 9 months I decided to wean him off the breasts and started giving him formula during the day. The little stinker started sleeping through the night!!! It wasn't instant and it took a few weeks to really get the routine going, but I found that if Dustin got up with him in the middle of the night he would go back to sleep almost instantly and he would sleep the rest of the night. After probably a week of that he hasn't been waking much during the night. Occasionally he will still wake up, but I am starting to see a real routine developing in our lives! I FUNCTION MUCH BETTER WITH ROUTINE!! I am the type of woman who really works well with a routine and when things aren't in routine for me I feel like my life is in complete chaos. SO, for the last 9 months I have felt like my life has been in chaos. Ok, it's not that bad, but still. You get what I'm saying, right? I am sure that we will still have many sleepless nights because lets face it we have children. At the moment though I have finally found sort of a routine and life is slowing down just a little bit for us to enjoy it! For example, I can now travel somewhere even if it is just to the store without Carter crying the whole way(he HATED his carseat and screamed the whole time he was in it). I can now put him down anywhere from 8-8:30 and know that he will more than likely sleep all night! I know that I can nurse him in the mornings when he gets up anywhere from 6- 7 and I can get another hour of sleep maybe. I know that he will more than likely take 2 naps depending on when he got up. That's another thing he didn't like to do before. My newborn would not sleep during the day for naps. at 3 months of age he would only sometimes take one nap a day. Although most days it was 2. He only took 3 naps when he was still in the newborn stage and that was only if I put him in the swing. I know the he will be hungry every 3 hours still and that now I can give him solids with his food. Anyways, all of this to say that life is getting much easier and better for us. It has been a rough 9 months, but I think(fingers crossed) that I am seeing the light at the end of the tunnel as far as rough baby stage.
This weekend has been one of the best weekends we have had as far as smoothness goes with my little family! It truly has been a great weekend and I hope we can have many more like it with our TWO boys! On Friday, I started the weekend out by taking the boys over my friend Megan's house to let them play! We always love going over there. Not only does mommy get to talk with an actual adult, but Dex gets to play with her two boys! I know that he has a great time and so do I. Even Carter seemed to have a great time. Saturday evening Dustin and I decided to go up to Monte Sano state park with the boys and do some hiking. Camping is coming up here in about a month so it was a good chance to test out hiking with both boys! They both did really well for their 1st hiking trip. Carter was strapped to me in the Ergo baby carrier and Dexter walked. I will say though that if we are going to walk any kind of considerable length that we will have to get a carrier for Dex too. On the way back he started not wanting to walk anymore. After our hiking adventure we decided to stop at Chik-Fil-A on the way home and eat dinner. It was great because they weren't crowded and Dustin and I got to eat peacefully while Dex played. Carter sat happily in the highchair eating yogurt drops. Later that night Dex and I had a movie night and watched Penguins of Madagascar and ate popcorn. Sunday, we decided to go to our gym's pool. It was a lot of fun and both boys had a great time. Carter really enjoys the water, but it took a little bit for him to warm up to it. Afterwards, we hit up our local frozen yogurt shop for a yummy post swim treat! Carter enjoyed Strawberries and Kiwi. I have been really happy with how this weekend has turned out. It really has been a smooth one for us considering the last 9 months have been kinda rough.
Not every moment of the 9 months has been rough and we definitely have had some great times with both boys! I love my little family and all the stuff that we do with not only our small little family, but with the grandparents and extended family as well! I know that it has been a little difficult at times, but spending time with family and growing together in closeness is the most important thing. Even if it is difficult with 2. One day I will look back on all of these memories and I won't care about the lost sleep or the stressful days in the car. What I will care about is how close we are, and how we have these memories to share with each other! I will care about the moments in my kids lives where they look back and say mommy/daddy did this with me or mommy/daddy played and loved on me even when they were tired or worn down. Just that in and of itself makes it so much better than it already is!
Enjoy!
