Going from One to Two

Having one child is SO much easier than two. Everyone warned me that 'two' changes EVERYTHING. I couldn't possibly know just HOW much really changes when going from one to two, no matter what anyone told me. It's a whole different dynamic, a new ball game that goes into extra innings nightly.

With one child, it's kind of like having an accessory.
Child in one hand, purse (or diaper bag) in the other. In the small diaper bag, I usually had a diaper, a drink and some wipes... and some snacks. Easy Peasy to run out the door on the fly. Boy oh boy those days are long gone.

Only One child

• Only One car seat. (more space in the car!) 
• Only One whiny child to deal with. 
• Only One 3 year old child who has become easy to handle; great age. 
• Only One child that gets all of the attention. 
• Only One child to worry about naps and feeding. 
• Only One sleeping child going to sleep at 8pm means lots of mommy & daddy time at night. 
• Only One 3 year old child that is pretty self sufficient in the sense that I can sit her down in front of a cartoon with her snack and go do what I need to do. 
• Only one child's clothes to wash. 
• Only One child that hasn't used a stroller in months. (More space in the trunk of SUV!) 
• Only one child that was wearing diapers. 
• Only one child that can play all by herself or with Mommy & Daddy, getting individualized attention all the time from us.  
• Only one child who speaks rather well and can tell me what's wrong or what she needs. 

Enter Second Child

Tyler has brought so much joy to our lives, and a love we never knew, especially when he had his open heart surgery (His story; Click here). Here's what going from one to two means.

Now when I leave the house with both kids, I need the BIGGIE diaper bag filled with diapers, wipes, bottles, formula, burp cloth, bibs, butt cream, changing pad, extra blanket, car seat, blanket for car seat, snacks for older child, spare underwear & shorts for older child & drink for older child. (Ginormous stroller is in the car already). Then as I have the baby carrier in one arm and 30 lb diaper bag and purse loaded up on my shoulder, with the toddler holding my hand, she tells me "I need to use the potty" (Even though I asked her 3x before we left "Do you need to go use the potty??). Down everything goes on the floor and I go help her use the potty. 10 more minutes go by. What used to take 3 minutes to run out the door now takes 30 minutes, and I'm never on time any more for anything, which kills me.  

• Two children; One 3 year old and 1 eleven week old infant means 2 car seats; Bye-bye to extra room in car. No room for the dog, shopping bags, or another person. 
• Two children; One whines constantly (and I do mean CONSTANTLY- 3 years old is way way worse than 2 years ever was!) or has major attitude and requires WAY more attention now that her baby brother is here. The other needs to be fed every 3 hours and requires A LOT of attention as all babies do. I forgot just how much work an infant is. haha! That leaves ZERO time for mommy to do anything like eat, pee, sit down. "Me time", what is THAT?!?!
• Two children; to feed, nap, bathe, get ready for bedtime (dinner & bedtime is absolute arfin' chaos here now!) 
• Two children; One still goes to bed at 8pm (more like 8:30 lately), and the other luckily now goes to bed at 10pm after his last bottle and sleeps through until 6:30am - but man did that take work from Brian and I. Luckily he is following in Julianna's footsteps for sleeping at night. PHEWWW! 
• Two children; that adds up to double (or triple) the laundry with bibs, onsies, socks, blankets, burp clothes, etc.
• Two children; Did I mention the MASSIVE MAJOR attitude the 3 year old has developed since her baby brother was born. Oh yes ... I did. Brian and I want to poke out our eyes most days. He's lucky he gets to go to work... although I do send Julianna to daycare 4 days a week still thank goodness. I might be in the loony bin for real if she was home 24/7 with me & Tyler now. I speak only truth here... maybe I'm a bad mom??
• Two children; one that whines way too much (oops did I mention that already??) and one that smiles & coos ever so cute! 
• Two children; Older one that now loves the ginormous sit & stand stroller we got for Tyler... and it takes up WAY TO MUCH room in the trunk of my SUV. Mommy now needs a freaking Tahoe.
• Two children; one now gets in & out of the {sit-n-stand} stroller every 2 minutes when we go somewhere together. In and out. In and out. Buckle. Unbuckle. Screeches if mommy moves the stroller without her buckling herself in. Screeches & throws self on floor when mommy moves stroller without her buckled in. Screeches when mommy breathes...and throws self on floor "just because", especially in crowded department store with everyone staring thanking goodness it's not their kid. Meanwhile, baby sleeps happily in stroller while big sister is throwing her 5th temper tantrum for the day. 
• Two children; One that just became potty trained (Thank you God!) and one in diapers for another 3 years. At least we're not buying double diapers like we were for 8 weeks! YAY us!
• Two children; I feel like I'm unable to give either the full attention they both deserve. I have major guilt & anxiety over losing my one on one time with Julianna.  
• Two children; older child has gone from good word articulation to now WHINING every sentence. Every word is a whine. Every one of them. Baby, on the other hand, cries to tell me one of three things; he pooped, needs bottle or needs sleep. Easy enough. Big kid; not so easy anymore. 
• Two children; Mommy & Daddy run themselves ragged for both of them leaving very little time for us to do anything for ourselves. Thank goodness for our babysitter and date night that we try to plan every couple of weeks to preserve what little sanity we have left. 
• Two children; I have not attempted to go food shopping with both children yet. Only the baby in my Beco pack, which has worked out well. Most times I just do an online food shopping (you order it from home, pick a time, drive to the store and they bring it out to you and put it in your trunk. Worth EVERY penny of the $20 fee!) 
• Two children; Going out to eat with both has been decent so far. Thank goodness Julianna has been going out to eat since she was a baby, so she's pretty easy when we go out to eat and knows what's expected of her *most times*. I of course only do this with my husband, not alone. hahaha 

Here's the part about a second child that people don't tell you

• Two amazing children to love and share your life with Brian and I. 
• Two incredible children that we get to teach love, life values, hopes & dreams to! 
• Two children that mean more than the world to us & we love more than anything in the world. 
• Two children that I never knew hold such a special place in your heart - a place that I never knew existed. 
• Two amazing children that will grow up together and love each other like only siblings can. 
• Two amazing children that will no doubt teach Brian and I a thing or two about life. 
• Two beautiful soles that Brian and I created will outlive Brian and I, and will have beautiful families of their own one day. 
• Two children; when you have one, you can't understand HOW you could possibly love another child like you do the first one. Well, I can't explain it if I tried. You just do. Your heart becomes bigger and holds even more love for both of them. It just happens. You can't explain it. 

A Quick Tyler Update
Things have been going pretty smooth lately with Tyler. His next cardiologist appointment is next week for his routine echocardiogram, EKG and checkup. His skin color, breathing and sleeping he been "normal", however he has been having some eating issues - we think he has reflux but still figuring it out with our pediatrician. She put him on Zantac this past Monday - so let's hope that does the trick! Heart babies often have reflux... bummer! If not, I can see a trip to a pediatric gastroenterologist for sure. (UGH!) - Yet another doctor! By the way in case you missed Tyler's heart story, Click HERE. 

Here are my 2 beautiful kiddos. Julianna hopped on the bed the other day, snuggled with Tyler and told me "Mommy go get the camera". So I did. Some of these came out pretty cute.