Parents say the Darndest Things!

Its been an interesting road these last 11 weeks. For the most part, it is all about survival and there are a lot of things that "go out the window" in the process.... temporarily at least!

Everyone is chilling out watching "Dora."

For example, Jennie didn't watch any TV until she was almost 2. After Jacob's arrival, she watched a LOT of TV, I'll admit it! Dora the Explorer is a great babysitter when you need 20 minutes of quiet to focus on nursing your newborn. I am proud to say that we are back to some sanity in that department - 2 shows a day is the limit and norm. Not so bad, right? ...Especially when Jennie is up at 6 am and neither Justin or I have the energy to entertain her that early. I am sure that Jacob will be watching TV way sooner than Jennie ever did. Its not like I can let her watch and keep him in another room.... or can I?

In the craziness that is our daily life right now, Justin and I have found ourselves faced with lots of things that we never expected - and have found our selves saying lots of funny things, too. Some of it is only funny in retrospect, but honestly, how do you get through life with a 2 year old and an infant if you can't see the funny side of things?

Lindsay: "Jennie, if you don't hurry up and pick out a night-night song you want me to sing, I am going to puke on your bed!"

This was quoted the night Jacob and I came home from his second hospitalization. Again, I was feeling nauseous and got sick a few times (apparently, this is my body's reaction to major stress - I yak a few times when I finally relax. Both times coming back from Jacob's hospitalizations I was sick only a few hours, no fever, and totally fine the next morning...weird....). I was getting Jennie to bed and trying to enjoy it, but I was getting increasingly nauseous. She kept changing her mind on what song I should sing to her. Then, enter above quote. Justin couldn't stop laughing. I ended up singing "You are my Sunshine" very quickly.

Jennie: "Daddy, get beer." (while pointing at the beer refrigerator display at the liquor store)

Justin: "No, sweetie. We have some at home. You can have one of those."

Justin went out to get a bottle or two of wine. Jennie tagged along, and apparently wanted Justin to buy beer, haha. Justin's response to her earned him quite a few skeptical, nervous, and shocked faces from other shoppers. Apparently they didn't realize he was joking....

 

Lindsay: (while talking to another Mommy friend) "Yeah, I have to call Jacob's surgeon to follow up again. I've been sending him pictures of Jake's belly button and we've been emailing over the long weekend. He probably wants to see us again this week."

Simply put, who really thinks that their 2 month old baby would have their own private surgeon who you need to contact every couple days?!? I certainly never expected to be on a first name basis with a pediatric surgeon. For those who don't know, Jacob was back in the hospital with an infected umbilicus (one of the surgery sites - he had a reaction to the dissolveable stitches) four weeks post-surgery. IV antibiotics, ultrasounds, etc. He's fine now - after more antibiotics, and 3 follow up visits with the surgeon. By the way, I love his surgeon and all the staff at Children's Hospital. They are all amazing professionals who really took care of my little darling.

Letting Jennie feed him is so much less work for me.... =)

Justin: "Jennie, take a break from your green beans and eat more pizza."

Ridiculous? Yes. But my 27 month old only weighs 21 lbs, and she needs more pizza!

 

Lindsay: "Oh my God, Justin. Does it look like Jacob has a sunburn?!?"

The last few days here in MA have felt like late spring - warm, sunny, and almost 70. Jennie, Jacob, and I were outside most of the day on Tuesday. When Jacob was crabbing in the stroller, I took him out to hold him. He basically slept in my arms while I played with Jennie, and also chatted with other mommy friends who were at the playground too (read as: I held him out in the sun, rather than in a shaded stroller....with no hat on....). Later that night, Jacob looked a little pink. While it turned out that he was not sunburned, (thank God!!) I was horrified that I didn't realize how warm the sun was and that I had to be concerned that he could be burned. So, funny in retrospect because he didn't actually get burned.... I ordered a nice blue sun hat for him that night. It is crazy how different the second one is - you just aren't worried as much (or you forget about their safety all together.....).

 

Having two young kids has been hard so far - Justin and I have felt frustrated at times and exhausted all the time. We've lacked sufficient patience here and there and we've bribed our 2 year old with TV and junk food. But - we've also had a lot of laughs, tickles, hugs, and kisses with our kids, too. When the going gets tough, all it takes is one little smile from Jacob or an unprovoked hug from Jennie, and all the challenges of the day are washed away. We've been figuring out this "family of 4" gig - and it has been the most wonderful, amazing, challenging, and memorable experience of our lives. We wouldn't change it for anything! .... OK, that's a little bit of a lie. We would probably take some extra sleep if it was an option....