Finding Our New Rhythm and A First For Us

From reading this blog for any amount of time, you have to know that I am a stickler for schedules, lists, and planning.  All of that worked beautifully in my favor for preparing for Ian's arrival and made for a flawless and hiccup free first week home.

Our Sunday school (Life Group) leaders brought us two meals early in the week and my friend Sherri brought us a meal mid week.  Those two meals, plus one of my pre-cooked and frozen spaghetti sauce batches saw us through the week with absolutely no cooking from me at all.  Plus with the pre-baked and frozen French toasts for Addie and breads and muffins for Brian (and me), breakfast was also a breeze.

However, I was still buffered in a way from reality because my Brian stayed home with me all of last week.  Wow! Can we say "Awesome!" 

On Thursday night, Addie began a cold and progressively went through the stages of the common everyday cold during the course of the entire weekend.  Brian and I tried our best to keep the kids separated so Ian would not catch what Big Sister had, and so far, God has honored our efforts.  But that made things a little tough.  I couldn't share myself with both kids at the same time.  I literally had to spend time with them in shifts.  Feed Ian, put him to sleep, hand him off to Brian, play with Addie, wash my hands and arms, feed Ian, (repeat continuously).

Today (Monday) was my first day on my own with my munchies.  And it was a good day.  No, it was a great day! 

First thing in the morning, I called our pediatrician and made an 11:30 a.m. appointment for my two munchies to be checked (Addie to see if there was an infection and Ian to see if he was coming down with it himself).  This was my first time leaving the house unassisted with my two little ones. I fed Ian, packed our diaper bag (seriously, since I am nursing I have to pack much less for Ian than I ever packed for Addie who was formula fed), loaded up the munchies, and headed for the doctor's office.  I had to lay a blanket over top of Ian's car seat to shield him from his sister's coughing, otherwise all of our quarantine time at the house would have pointless.

Addie had the best doctor's visit ever!  She jumped onto the scale the moment she was asked to, let the nurse take her temperature, and coughed a extra bit to make sure the nurse knew she was sick.  Ian has yet to learn that doctor's and nurses are his friends (hey, it took Addie 3 1/2 years to learn so I'm not rushing him) so he made sure he let everyone know he was not thrilled about the situation.  When his weight was checked, he was up to 8 pounds!  In less than 1 week he had gained a pound and 2 ounces!  I have told Brian that I feel like I am constantly feeding Ian, and now I know why.

While we waited for our doctor to come into the room, I decided to give Ian the second half of his feeding (first half happened in the waiting room when we were the last three waiting to see the doctor).  Suddenly, Addie coughed which triggered her need to go to the potty! 

I am a mom, right?  That means I can do anything with one arm tied behind my back (or at least one arm wrapped around a nursing baby), right?  At least, my mom could, and I am her daughter, so, with God's help, there is no holding me back.  We made our way to the bathroom, I told Addie what to do, hopped her up to the seat, and she took over from there.  We washed our hands (hand) and went back to the exam room. 

The doctor was super impressed with Ian's growth spurt and with Addie's great cooperation.  Ian does have a clogged tear duct which is causing him to have an over abundance of sleep-stuff in one eye, but Addie had that too.  Warm compresses and a little bit of gentle massaging will help to eliminate the issue in no time at all.

We got back in the car, and I took Addie to McDonald's drive-thru for her favorite- a small fries.  She kept going on about how great she had been at the doctor's office, and I let her brag all she wanted.  After all, for her this was a major step. 

I chose not to have an extensive schedule for the next few weeks as I am figuring out our new normal around here- especially with my little guy who is still eating on demand but progressively being brought to a 3 hour schedule.  I did write out a simple list of things to do for today (doctor's appt. was not on my list!):

• Devotions (did)
• Get fully dressed (did)
• Get the kids fully dressed (did)
• School time with Addie (yet to do- they are both currently napping which is why I am here)
• Praise Baby for Ian (yet to do)
• Take a walk with the kids (yet to do- weather is beautiful right now)
• Prepare dinner (right after I finish blogging- main part is precooked and frozen- just have to fix my sides)
• Do 1 load of laundry (did this morning- remember my Aspects of the Schedule post?) 
• Quick clean house (did)
• Scrapbook (may or may not get to- mostly write/ type out my journaling)
• Blog (doing)

I love new adventures, finding new ways to work my schedule, and learning for myself what works and doesn't.  I am looking forward to each new day as I slowly break back into my schedule and tweak a few things here and there to accommodate our newest member.