Serious Perks About Baby #2

I know I’ve mentioned a lot of these before, but I’m so excited about them that I have to make another list!

1. I know what’s going on. I’ve been pregnant before. I’ve delivered a baby before. I’ve taken care of a newborn before. I’m sure there will be differences, but not being so in the dark has been totally great.

2. We have most of the baby stuff we need already. Okay, if it’s a girl we’ll need some clothes, but that’s about it. We’ve got all the gear already, so if there’s anything that I didn’t buy last time that will make the whole ordeal nicer or more convenient for me (like a wedge pregnancy pillow), it’s not a big deal because we don’t have to buy very much at all.

3. The wait really isn’t so bad. I couldn’t wait for my first baby to come (and we had waited so long already before we knew he was on the way), but it’s not like that this time. Sometimes I’m terrified of being a mother of two (am I really going to be able to handle this?), so the months of pregnancy before me really aren’t that big of a deal. I want to make the most of the time that’s left of my first boy being the baby. I want to shower him with attention while I can. I even want to take professional family pictures of just the three of us because we’ve never gotten around to it. I’m excited for the changes in our family for the future, but I want to make the most of what we have right now. So I’m savoring the wait.

4. I’m not working out of our home! Yay! And YES! I don’t have the guilt of quitting my job during a hiring freeze when another lady in my office didn’t. I don’t have to worry about whether or not I’ll like being a stay-at-home mom because I already LOVE it. I don’t have the stress and demands and stress and stress and stress of professional life. I can nap when my baby naps and sleep in when he does. I have time to cook whatever I feel like eating. I have several friends who decided to be stay-at-home while they were pregnant, even before their first baby. I would never have let myself do that, but I can see how nice it would have been. Lack of work means a lot less stress!

Sometimes I Wonder What We're Doing

Okay, it happens a lot. But especially when my one-year-old is up ALL night teething and we can barely handle it. And then I think what in the world we are ever going to do with two.

Call for Inventions

I sure would appreciate it if someone would invent the following:

(1) sippy cups that my baby likes to drink out of that don't spill all over the place when he carries them around and (inevitably) drops them.

(2) playground structures that don't get burning hot in the sun.

That's all. Thanks.

Connections

So when Dad isn't home and the phone rings, baby says, "Da--da!" When I'm not home and the phone rings baby says, "Ma-ma-mum!" We think he's brilliant.

On Spiders

"Itsy-Bitsy" or "Eensy-Beensy"? I really want to know, but I find myself singing both just randomly.

The Challenge with Parenting

When you're a parent, someone needs your attention 24/7 (except when the baby is asleep). That means when you're tired, hungry, and worn-out, you can't just sit on the couch until you feel better because someone needs to be changed or fed or put to bed. And because there are two of you (parents, I mean), when one is taking care of the baby, it's not fair that the other gets to sit and veg, even though that's what you both want to be doing. So when anyone is tired everyone is frustrated because you all have to work together to take care of each other. It's hard; it's challenging; but it doesn't mean that you and you husband have problems. You just have to learn how to keep working even when you're tired and hungry and worn out. But it's not just about you. It's just because you're a parent. But this is just one side of the matter (the minuses) . . .