and then there were four...

On Saturday morning I tried to leave the house alone with both children and it really hit me, now we are four. It was either the ridiculous amount of stuff we had to take with us for a day at Gigi's, or the fact that we were an entire hour behind schedule that truly made me realize life was different than it had been two short weeks ago!

This got me thinking about how life really was different as a family of four, and brought to mind a few random things that I could really put my finger on. It's fun to write some of these things down now, before they just become part of the norm and I don't notice the change at all anymore...

...when Laurelei was born we spent at least two weeks just looking at her. We didn't do much more than sleep, eat and breathe with that little baby in our arms. The first night home with Abbott was extremely different. Matt actually made dinner, we swaddled Abbott and put in down in his bassinet while the rest of us ate dinner at the dining room table. It was so normal. As if life just went on even though there was a new baby in the picture. I am pretty sure we didn't cook dinner ourselves for at least a month with L.

...every other evening in our house is now bath night. I pretty much feel like we can't do anything other than prepare ourselves for the marathon that is bathing two on those nights. It might not help that Laurelei is terrified of anyone in the house doing anything without her, which means right now we ALL sit in our tiny bathroom and watch her take a bath (yes, Matt, Abbott and myself) before she helps us give Abbott his little bath. I secretly love it.

 ...7:30 on used to be 'our time.' We'd get L in bed and have the rest of the evening to be us for awhile. Whether it was us just existing side by side or really doing something together, it was still just us. Now we put L down, then feed Abbott again, then Matt gets his time with just Abbott again, and then it is us time.  Around 10:00. We usually spend this time asleep on the couch. :)

...with Laurelei I was a little crazy about getting her out of the house. The first time she ever stepped foot into the truly public eye was sometime after she was a month old. A whole month old. At two weeks old Abbott spent an hour or so yesterday at an orchard. Granted he wasn't quite in the public eye since he was swaddled something fierce and snuggled in a wrap against my chest, unable to even be seen, the entire time. Part of me felt so guilty having him out of the house, but Matt reassured me that the warm fall air was great for him, and since he was sleeping and bundled the entire time we were gone anyway, it was no different really than him being at home. And the up side was Laurelei got to experience what it was like living our normal lives, with the baby in tow. She has been pent up in this house with me for a few months now too, and she was so excited to do something special with both Matt and I. It was nice doing things together again after a very long summer of bed rest. I missed that.

 ...the house is a mess all the time. Sure I still pick everything up after everyone goes to bed, but I am mildly aware that things will never quite be the same. There is this pin on Pinterest that says a messy house makes a good mom. I'm not saying that isn't true because I am sure it probably is, but I have always hated the sentiment that to be a good mom I would have to let my kids destroy the house! Now I just realize that what probably helps make a good mom is being okay when the kids do destroy the house. I am quite certain I will still have to put it back together again, according to my standards, each and every night so that I don't completely lose my mind. And that will start as soon as I am sleeping for more than 3 hours at a time.

...our nights look a little different. Matt and L come home, we all play, hold the baby, eat dinner, take a walk around our neighborhood which we love, read stories and go to bed. It's fantastic

 ...I love my husband so much, and even more now. I looked across the room at Matt the other day and just remembered how in love with him I am. Then I thought it was kind of funny that at that very moment he was sitting on a child's stool in the hallway outside of L's door (helping her try to fall asleep in peace) and I had just finished changing like the thousandth diaper that day. Our lives are different. We have new priorities and spend our time in completely new ways. We are busy to the max and stretched in ways we never really imagined. Yet, I look at these two little people that we created just because we love each other so much, and I love Matt even more.

 I cannot imagine what life would look like if there weren't four of us now.

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