Highs and Lows of Life with TWO

I'm responsible for two little people 24/7.

That's a lot of responsibility and has taken some getting used to.  I am always on duty (as are many of you) and the breaks in my day happen during nap time, bed time or those moments where I sneak away to do a few things by myself.  I stay up too late e.v.e.r.y. single night because sometimes it just nice to have some alone time.  I wake up tired, but I don't think anything would get done if I didn't work on it late into the night.  My best blogging, note writing, reading, DVR catching up and cleaning happens after dark.

Someone almost always needs my attention and if it's not the little people, it's my hubby or my cats.  I'm not complaining because I really love this family of mine, but adding a new member to the family guarantees that lots of things are going to change.  We're starting to figure out our new normal and I'm happy to say things are going pretty well most of the time.  Kevin's schedule allows some flexibility in his hours and now that it's summer he won't be teaching any more.  It's a huge help to have him around more so he can help me with the kids.

High and Lows of Life with TWO

+ Olive is so cute with her little brother.

- Olive isn't always thrilled at the amount of attention her brother requires from mom and dad.

+ We are prepping to move in a few weeks and are excited about our new house.

- I feel like we are a little suffocated in our condo.  I'd love to have a nursery ready for Fletcher, each of us have our own bedroom, but we're going to have to wait a few more weeks for that to happen.

+ We are saying yes to play dates and fun invitations.

- Leaving the house all dressed and ready for the day feels like a big accomplishment some days.

+ I'm feeling more confident going out and about with two little people.  I've learned that it's pretty likely that there will be tears from one of us, never leave the house without snacks and to be flexible in the amount of things I can accomplish when we run errands.  

- Plans sometimes have to be scrapped due to melting down children, nap times or uncooperative little people.  It's hard not to be disappointed so I'm getting better at penciling things in and not being too bummed if we have to bump some plan to the following day.

+ Kevin and I have been good at tag teaming things.  I'll take one kid and he'll take the other.  We divide and conquer and it's nice to have a 1:1 ratio of kid to parent.

- Sometimes the kids gang up against us to cause a mutiny!  Both decide to cry at the same time.  They're both "starving" at the same time and need immediate attention.  We're getting better at just laughing at the hilarity of the situation.

+ There are lots of fun things going on around us.

- Sometimes we have to say no to things we'd like to say yes to because it's not what's best for our family.  We decline late night dinner invitations, over night trips or cross country events because it's just a little too crazy at our house right now.

+ We LOVE Luvs diapers.
- Diapers are expensive.  We are getting more serious about potty training because it would be nice to only be buying diapers for one person instead of two.

+ Amazon Prime.  Almost anything you could ever need delivered in a day or two to your door step.
- It's a little too easy to shop on-line and then far too many boxes end up showing up at the door.  Whoops.  Shopping in your pjs has some downsides.

+ One of me.  Two of them.
- Waiting your turn.  Olive has never had much experience in waiting her turn because she was our only.  Now she's getting told I'll help her or get her a drink when I'm done feeding her brother.  She's less than thrilled to hear this, but she's quit throwing a fit at those words and just pouts now.  I'd say that's progress.  Hopefully in a few weeks it'll be completely normal and she will have learned a great life skill.

+ We have our own washer and dryer in our condo.  We made an adult purchase and have our own set now.  Hooray!
- So much laundry!  I forgot how messy newborns are.  We go through outfits/blankets/bibs all day long and his laundry piles up.  Then Olive asks for an outfit that is dirty and I realize I haven't done her laundry in a while.  Then I realize all of my shirts have spit up on them.  I need to get into a better laundry routine.

+ Olive is at an age where she loves to help me.  She will get diapers, can reach many things in the kitchen, loves to work alongside me and beams with pride when she knows she's being helpful.
- Some days being a big sister is too much and being asked to help is annoying.  I try to just compliment her helpful behavior and be understanding when she's not feeling so helpful.

+ Two kiddos fit nicely in our backseat.
- Maneuvering infant car seat, holding a toddlers hand, diaper bag, keys and trying to unlock the car don't always go so smoothly.  I've started having Olive get in Fletcher's side and she's getting good at climbing into her car seat.  I feel good that she's safely inside the car so I can focus on getting both kids into their spots.

+ Technically two kids fit in a shopping cart.
- An infant car seat takes up so much room and Olive kind of hates sharing her cart space with her brother and all the groceries.  We've started making smaller grocery store trips because the cart is nearly full before we even enter the store.  Thank heavens for candy, fish tanks, lobsters, horse rides and any other distractions we can find.  Sometimes I ask Kevin to stop by the store on his way home or go on solo grocery store runs alone (definitely a +) to make grocery shopping similar.

Well that's all I can think of for now.  Life with 2 is crazy, lovely, wonderful and a bit chaotic these days.  I'm thankful for my little people who are sure to make my life interesting every day.  Never a dull day with little people at your feet.

I'd love to hear a high and low kid moment from you in the comments!