Gwendolyn Rose was only a few days old in these photos, and yet 7 weeks have already gone by which is heartbreaking and miraculous all at the same time..
I am blogging while eating hummus with some plain chips that I am not too fond of, but the fact that I am doing both while the girls nap (at the same time might I add) tells me that we must be settling into our new life quite nicely. I even have my huge jug of ice water keeping me hydrated because tandem nursing...
It's been 7 weeks since Ari Love gained a best friend. She loves her sister so so much, many times to the point of waking her up with her desire for kisses and hugs. Who can blame her when that newborn scent is insatiable, I could smell her for hours upon hours. The anxiety and worry that I initially had, I decided to let go because I've learned that being a second child means that you have to learn to sleep through everything bless her heart. I would know because I'm a second child (and middle child) and borderline narcoleptic and for the record, I have even slept through an earthquake (true story)!
It would make the most sense to think that everything doubles when you have two children or at least that's what I thought, but in reality, it was an exponential jump in everything when she was born, including in how much love I could ever feel for these two precious babies and my husband. My mother-in-love being here for the first few weeks was the greatest gift that she could have ever given us. She shared in the love and helped us get through the tantrums and the serious questions of inadequacy and the LAUNDRY and find some sort of balance between eating and caring and nursing for two babies...because Ari Love is still a baby too and that became so apparent to me all of a sudden. Those first few days were so hard in trying to find the best sleeping situation, toggling between one bed to another, foggy eyed from happy tears and overwhelmed ones, trying to recover from birth, and all the emotions that come along with that. But you know, settling into our new kind of normal became the thing that came the most naturally. No one could have prepared me for what it would really be like to become a mother of two, a tandem nursing mother of two (deserves a post coming soon), yet everything about it feels like its exactly how it is supposed to be as it was engrained in the deepest part of my core.
Messy, unpredictable, challenging, beautiful...It feels like home.
random thoughts:
-can't live without these swaddle blankets for Gwen Rose
-a treat to make me feel somewhat put together, I bought this and this, and this mascara is amazing!
-sent all our mother's day flowers through this company and was so pleased
-this hairstyle is everything
-in case you were wondering what kind of swing Gwen is in, it's the 2013 version of this one
Beautiful photos. I could not imagine have two so close in age, though I would have in a heart beat had we been blessed so quickly with another. My only two are 7 years apart, again, not by choice but the oldest is such a big help! Oh and we love the Aden + Anais swaddle blankets!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Mika! I bet your children have a wonderful and special kind of relationship. It's so amazing to have the older one helping and being nurturing, even Ari Love as young as she is tries to do such big girl things with helping her baby sister. My heart has never been more full. I have a little brother who is 9 years younger than me and I think I will always consider him as my first baby. We have a beautiful relationship and I just feel so much responsibility towards protecting him always, even though he is 6'3'' and probably weighs a hundred pounds more than me haha! sending you so much love darling, and I absolutely adore you name <3 xoxo
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