acceptance

With big life changes comes a lot of acceptance. 

I must accept that...

1//  Connor is a bit of a crier.  Well, a lot of a crier.  He is very needy and it's difficult to get him content.  He likes to be held, moved around, and fed.  It's very hard to do all of those things when there is another child in the house to take care of.  Although it is getting easier everyday to read his cries and know exactly what he wants.  Two thumbs up for that!

2//  Patrick watches TV several hours a day.  This is not something I like to admit, but I have to accept that it is temporary and he enjoys it for now.  It keeps him entertained/occupied while I attend to aforementioned holding, moving, and feeding of his brother.  The major downside of this is that I go to bed with the theme songs in my head.  Bubble, bubble, bubble...bubble, bubble guppies.

3//  Along with TV, Patrick also snacks all day long.  His favorite line is "I want something else."  I've been getting creative with snacks - most of the time they're healthy but those fruit snacks come in handy when I'm desperate.  Which is at least three times a day week.

4//  My house won't be perfect for while.  This is probably the one that bothers me the most.  I love love love keeping a clean, beautiful home for my family - it's something I take a lot of pride in.  Unfortunately it is now full of toys and wrappers and DVD cases and car seats.  Dirty house, happy kids right?  I'm not so sure, but it's definitely what I'm going for.

5//  I can't do it alone.  Yesterday was a breaking point for me - I called my Mom screaming/crying "I told you I couldn't do it alone and you said you'd be here and I've been up since 3:30 AM and YOU'RE NOT HERE.  Connor won't go to sleep and Patrick is going to fall down the stairs and I CAN'T DO IT ANYMORE."  For real though, it's impossible to do it alone.  Patrick has to be taken care of and it just can't be done without another person.  So...thank you Mom.  Thank you so much.

6//  Sleep is a priority.  I have found that I need a solid 5 1/2 hours of sleep to function through the next day, so when both babes are in bed at 8 pm I am unable hang out with my hubby and laugh at the crude jokes on Anchorman.  I have to leave him to his ESPN (I bet he hates that) and march off to hit the hay.  Great news though:  my mom forces us to do a lot of date nights/quick trips out together.  Who am I kidding?  She doesn't need to force us to "go have a beer."  She rocks.

7//  My body is different.  Holy hips!  I hate you!  I've never had much of a rear end/hips and I liked it that way.  Hello, pregnancy #2.  It's also taken me much longer to get back to my typical pant size this time around.  No more cheesecake and cookies and cereal for this mama.  My new diet is to:  eat what I would normally eat, but consume half the carbs and double up on veggies.  I cannot stand depriving myself of anything so instead of two pieces of toast, I'll just eat one.  I can do that.

8//  Life has changed again.  For someone (and her husband) who likes a routine and easygoing, smooth days, this can be hard to accept.  God wouldn't have chosen these two perfect boys for me if he didn't think I could raise them right and love them dearly.  So here we are, turning another corner in our lives.  And just like every other time a big change has come along, we adjust what we need to, hold onto eachother and to God, and LIVE IT!