The Question

The current question of all time is, "How are you doing?" That is a tough question to answer, especially in a small talk situation, and I often just think, where do you begin? Honestly, things have been going pretty well, for the moment, at least. I'm so thankful that David has been able to take off so much time to be at home with us and it's definitely helped with this time of transition. It's been especially helpful because I haven't been able to lift Ethan or Katelyn and am just now beginning to pick Katelyn up, and even then, probably sooner than I should. I think this has probably been one of the hardest things for Ethan. I've had to go to the doctor a few times to check my incision and every time I've come home Ethan has asked if my boo-boo is healed yet. Poor guy has thought that the doctor would "fix" me and that I'd be able to hold him when I returned home. I'm definitely looking forward to snuggling with him "standing up", as he puts it.

I have been pleasantly surprised at how Ethan and Katelyn have reacted to baby Emily. They love her tremendously, she is one lucky little sister. Tonight Ethan kissed her and said, "I love her so much, I love her to the moon and back." How precious! And Katelyn is constantly (and I mean constantly!) kissing her little sister. She'll drop what she's doing and run over to Emily just to kiss her on the head. One morning I couldn't figure out why Emily had so many crumbs in her hair and finally figured out it was from all of Katelyn's kisses! While they have accepted Emily into our family with loving arms, they have also figured out that we are outnumbered, or are in zone defense, as I have been told. It often depends on their mood and their desire to listen at the moment, but they have learned to feed off of one another. If one of them is doing something they aren't supposed to and we ask them to stop, then the other one joins in and to them, it's major fun, and pretty frustrating for us. We're constantly trying to figure out the best way to address these new behaviors, and I'm guessing once we've figured out a good approach something else will pop up, but this is part of being a parent, right?

Emily is as sweet as can be! She still sleeps a ton and has been great while we're out and about. She is starting to be awake for periods of time and has begun noticing the toys hanging from her car seat. She will also smile at us, but it's hard to tell if it's purposeful or just a reflex. Lately nights have been a bit hard, as she doesn't like sleeping alone. Many nights have been spent with her in my arms (or daddy's arms), so that is probably my only complaint, the lack of good sleep. But then again, who can complain about snuggling with such a sweet girl? And I try to remember how quickly this newborn phase goes because pretty soon I can't "spoil" her by sleeping with her.

I'm not too sure how things will go once David goes back to work. I absolutely need a shower to wake-up in the morning, and I relish my shower in the morning while David watches the kiddos. Once David goes back to work I'll have to weigh whether a shower or 30 more minutes of sleep is more important. I'm guessing it will be a day by day decision! (Gross, I know, but I think it's all about my sanity.) David did have to head into work for a few hours one morning this week, so I was on my own for a bit with the kids. Staying at home makes us all go stir crazy, so I was determined to go somewhere with them. We did successfully make it to the park and we had a great time. I am, however, currently researching double strollers to aide in my ability to keep my kiddos safe (i.e. corralled) while out and about. Last week we all ran errands together and went to Babies R Us and Target. Well, Ethan and Katelyn were in the mood where they were feeding off of each other and it was hard to keep them from running off, because they thought it was hilarious. That is one of my concerns with going out with the three of them alone, but I know I won't be able to stay home all day with them. When the time comes, we'll figure it out. I'm sure we'll have some rough moments, but it'll eventually come together. A friend of mine with 3 kids close in age like ours, just a bit older, told me that she learned that she wouldn't go any where fast. I'm thankful for that bit of advice, because I like to move fast, I like to get out of the door fast and I like to do any errands quickly. But I need to have the mindset that this will not happen at this stage in life, and I think that bit of advice will be very helpful.

All in all, I guess this would be my answer to the question I get so often, but don't have time to truly delve into the answer!