The New Ballgame

They've said that having another kid puts parents in a whole new ball game. I don't think going from one to two kids is too bad. The challenge will probably come when we go from two to three kids and we, as the parents, become outnumbered.

• Ethan has been really great adjusting to being the Big Brother. He still likes his attention, but God knew what he was doing when he designed newborns to just eat and sleep these first couple of days/weeks/months. It gives new parents and new siblings a chance to get used to the idea of someone new in the house. Ethan now will come to tell me if Baby Kate is crying and I don't seem to hear her. We've been intentional about giving Ethan plenty of attention. I was most scared about how he'd behave when I'm feeding Kate, but most of the time that goes just fine. . . . He's worst when we're with other people and I have to feed her. I was at my friend Beca's house the other day (who still hasn't had her baby) and Ethan just about melted down when I was feeding Kate and couldn't help him with whatever he needed (not that I knew what he needed because all he could do was cry and shake his head--nothing was right). Ethan seems to laugh even more and give more hugs. I also think he looks a lot bigger and stockier now that I have a smaller babe in the house.
  
• Tuesday our out-of-house activity (which is my daily attempt this week to stay busy and sane) was Book Babies at our local library. I had always wanted to go but so far this summer all my dr. appts. were on Tuesday morning. So this Tuesday I packed up Kate and Ethan and made it to Book Babies only five minutes late (of course Kate suddenly had to eat as soon as it was time to leave the house--I consider five minutes late with a newborn a success). There were at least 25 other kids there, plus at least one parent for each one (many had a dad or grandma there too). We sang songs, read books, and Ethan got a new little bug toy. He was pretty timid during the actual storytime, but he loved looking around the library afterwards and seeing all the rocket ships and stars they had on display.
  
• Maybe Tim and I just know what to expect, or maybe we're just better at what we're doing, but having two kids doesn't seem all that bad so far. I already realize that it takes forever to get anything done when there's a kid around, so I'm not completely frustrated when it takes all morning to get ready for a walk that we never even get to take because then it's lunch time. My song will probably change depending on the day, depending on the stage of each kid. But so far so good.
• Being a stay-at-home mom is about perspective. There are moments when I sadly consider the teaching job that I love and how I will miss it in the fall (I'm not even giving it up totally--I'll still be part time, but I'm afraid I'll miss being fully immersed in it), and how I didn't really want to give it up so I could do the laundry and clean the house and make lunch and dinner every day. I think Tim thinks I totally love being at home because I get to do fun things like Book Babies and play dough. I guess those things are fun and each stage of childhood can be cherished, and I better thank God that I have this season of life. I'm reading a book about being content (can't remember the title, and we accidentally left it in the pew at church on Sunday) and it reminds me of what has always helped me when I'm worried about things. . . be thankful about what I do have and the bad parts (that really aren't very bad) will fade away.