A lot of people ask me, "
What's it like with three?"
The transition has definitely been harder than it was from one to two. Surprisingly. Mainly, it's because Patrick and I are outnumbered and when he's gone during the week----to try and nap an infant while a toddler is begging for a snack and a preschooler is vying for attention---it's enough to pull my hair out.
But, on most days, I'll have moments of just pure gratefulness that I get to be these three little boy's mom. One of my greatest fears is that I will lose this perspective. It is by far, hands down, the greatest thing I ever did was to choose to stay home and invest in these little men.
Instead of screaming,
"I want juice!", I celebrate a victory when little Caelan calmly says, "
Mommy, may I have some juice, please?" And Micah....he cracks me up with his jokes. The jokes themselves are way
not funny, but the way he lights up and laughs incessantly as he's telling them brings such delight to me. And my baby boy...could God have created a better smell than an infant? It's heady enough to get you through a difficult day, which I imagine, was His purpose in it all along.
I would say the greatest challenge is staying consistent in discipline while you're sleep deprived and your other children know that you are focused on other things like nursing or spending time napping a baby. They are generally very well behaved, but I find the peak time-out/spanking episodes is usually after I nurse. It's like Micah or Caelan know they can be naughty! The other part of that challenge is to not lose your cool and get angry, especially at little people who are doing what they were created to do -- test the limits!
Good news! At four months with a newborn, things ARE getting better. Hallelujah!
Little Tristan is getting over his reflux although he is still spit-up city, he doesn't have the pain cries associated with the esophagus. He and I average about 2 clothes changes a day. I'm okay with this because the pain is gone and I much prefer a laundry issue! We're also starting to give him rice cereal and as you can tell, Mikey likes it!
Praise God, Tristan sleeps. I got him on 4 naps a day and the nights went down to just one feed. It also helped that at his four month birthday, we Ferberized him by letting him "cry it out". We struggled with him being so young, but boy are we ever glad we did. The worst six minutes of a mommy's life leads to six hours of mommy rest. Irreplaceable and so worth the effort. And for those new moms who read this, believe me -- they aren't mad at you in the morning. They are cooing and happy because they are rested!
Rested baby = Happy baby. Here he is below smiling with future wife, Anna Trexel. Remember the Trexels who I helped plan their wedding? Here is their joy and delight a year later.
That red hair is out of control cute. Well, that's the update for now. More thoughts later on the world of raising three boys....
(my first dinner I ever made for my new husband)
