it’s been two and half months since the birth of my daughter (really?) and life seems to be chugging along in a totally deranged but somewhat normal kind of a way. wait, does that even make sense?

we have routines in place. well, ok, we have some semblance of a night time routine in place. let’s be honest, we leave harper with jojo three days a week in hopes that her miracle work will straighten her out and put her on a squeaky clean schedule. this is week one;  i give her two weeks. she is truly amazing.  but for the most part a day in the blood household is fairly predictable at this point and i’d like to think that we’ve maybe even come out of ’survival mode’ (as justin calls it) and started living a little.

since harper’s birth lots of people have asked how the adjustment to life with two has been. many of them friends who have one child, are contemplating a second and want to get the dirty details before taking the leap. and i can remember being in their shoes; in fact, i can remember calling my good friend (jaynah) the week i found out i was pregnant - her two are also 16 months apart. the one thing i remember from that conversation, besides a lot of freaking out (on my end) and laughing (on her end) was her advice, “plan and expect for the worst. that way you’ll be pleasantly surprised”.  soooo you’re telling me it’s going to be sheer hell? sweet.

so i did. i geared myself up for a really hard transition and guess what? i was pleasantly surprised. don’t get me wrong, there are many minutes in each hour that i wish i had two more sets of hands, an extra lap and someway to stop jackson from the constant whine/cry that, i guess, is toddler-hood (?) but all in all, life is good. justin is home (a lot) right now so we’re mostly running a man-to-man defense which makes that whole living life instead of surviving it, possible. betcha can’t wait for my blogs in march when i’m solo parenting it for months straight. yeah, me either…

so i guess in the ‘living’ comes doing and remembering to enjoy, embrace and not wish away. i’ve tried to get down on the floor and play as much as possible. i’ve let dishes stack up and given the vacuum a couple of nights off. i’ve closed myself in the bathroom, screamed and cried and then opened the door refreshed and ready to tackle the chaos that ensued. my advice to anyone in the throws of this decision would be to follow your heart. you’ll never be financially ready, you might never be mentally or emotionally ready (even if you think you are) but when it happens you do, you survive and you start living.

since there have been lots of firsts in the past 10 weeks (which may seem crazy since we just went through the whole newborn baby thing a year and a half ago) i think listing some will give you some insight into our lives. in no particular order, here a few that stand out:

- opening a diaper and seeing a vagina (seriously, this was shocking the first few days)

- dialing 911 and spending the afternoon in various hospitals after harper choked and couldn’t catch a breath (i should probably start therapy STAT but am still in denial it ever happened)

- carrying a baby in the bulky, awkward, heavy-as-hell car seat carrier while simultaneously holding the hand of a fidgeting toddler, while trying to walk somewhere and not kill anyone

- nursing a baby while: preparing meals, helping a toddler poop on the potty, supervising playground play, bathing, sleeping, eating, the list goes on…

- lying awake in the dark of night listening to two children screaming and seriously contemplating jumping out the window

- watching my husband, dressed in boxers, a fleece coat and slippers packing the baby up for a middle-of-the-night car ride in hopes of some silence and sleep

- having a let-down dressed in a 10lb floor length bridesmaid dress sitting in the front pew of a catholic church during a marriage ceremony praying to god (no pun intended) that the organza would catch and absorb all the milk

- apple picking while carrying a 3 week old draped in a friend’s scarf  because her parents forgot to bring anything to carry her in/cover her with (on the most cloud-less, sunny day of the fall). and then leaving the orchard in such disarray that we forgot the apples

- writing a check for much more than i ever dreamed possible for two kids in daycare three days a week. ouch

- watching my body bounce-back (or attempt to) from two back to back pregnancies. double ouch

- taking birth control

- needing a glass of wine everyday at 2pm but trying like hell to hold out until at least 7pm

- watching my son smile at my daughter

- teaching jackson that when harper nurses she’s having a ’snack’ = seeing me naked, pointing at my breasts and yelling, “SNAAAACK!!” (not that this thinking will change much over his lifetime)

- realizing that i shouldn’t have used the word ’snack’ because jackson decides he wants some milk to go with those cookies. sorry, just not happening

- strategizing how to grocery shop (or any public shopping activity) with as little direct contact with carts, doors, floors (any germed-out surface) as possible, while keeping both children a. happy b. sleeping c. cooperating and d. not screaming. when implemented correctly i’ve got 1 hour tops: harper in babyhawk with a full tummy, jackson in cart with cover and lots of snacks.  i’ve decided to forgo face masks for the time being…

on a side note justin and i are thinking about auditioning for a reality tv show to help pay some bills (buy a big house, range rover, you know). our last name alone would surely bump us to the top of the list, no?

ok, i’m kidding. but if you have any suggestions for a blood family reality tv show post it here just for fun…

happy living!