Mother of Two

It's been a little over two weeks since Jacinta was born. Paul has gone back to work, which leaves me at home alone with two little girls. I'm outnumbered!

The thought was originally quite intimidating to me. How would I survive ALL DAY LONG at home by myself, and not only that, but God forbid I actually need to GO anywhere! Lugging around one child (and all the necessary accompaniments) is hard enough!

That's why on Monday morning, I planned a trip to the library (and CVS!) to prove to myself that I could handle toting around a toddler AND a newborn. And you know what? It worked out just fine. I used my wonderful, new double stroller (thanks Mom and Dad), with Veronica in one seat and Jacinta's car seat snapped in the other. Despite its size, it is really easy to push around, even among the sometimes narrow aisles of CVS. Naturally, getting two kids in and out of the car takes a little longer than just one...but that was really the worst of it. And Jacinta slept the entire time we were out, so that made things a bit easier.

So Tuesday I decided to try grocery shopping. This I knew would be a little different, because I couldn't really push a stroller and a cart at the same time. So using the stroller wouldn't be an option. I decided to put Veronica in the cart's child seat like I usually do, and put Jacinta in the sling. This also worked very well, since Jacinta slept like a champion again.

Now I'm sure not every outing will go quite as smoothly. In fact, I expect to get my fair share of store aisle tantrums, mid-shopping emergency diaper changes and the like. But at least I know that easy errands are also a possibility.

This has led to a kind of shift in my perspective, even at home. I think for the first couple of weeks since we've had Jacinta, I've been trying to define what my new role is as a mother of two. Amidst the sleep deprivation (which has gotten better), the attention-craving toddler and the messy house that I can't seem to quite keep up with, I had been focused on just figuring out what it takes to get through each day. But now that we've had some time to adjust, I've settled in to more of a routine.

But I don't think routine is even the right word really. That implies some sort of schedule, which I definitely don't have at this point. It's more of an attitude, or a frame of mind, where I get to enjoy cuddling Jacinta on the sofa while reading a book to Veronica (and hoping she won't accidentally smack the baby with it). Where, somehow, I wake up in time to take a shower while my girls are still asleep. And where I do find time during the day to pick up a few things here and there, to sit down and eat lunch, to catch up on the Pioneer Woman's blog, and (apparently) to write my own.

I'm not sure if I've really explained myself well at all, and I don't think I've even written what I sat down to write when I started this. But what it amounts to is that I think I've moved past that initial "What have we gotten ourselves into?" stage, and I'm more able to enjoy the fun little things throughout the day that go along with being the mom of two gorgeous little girls. And laugh about the not so fun things...after they are over.