Life with Two

Before Emilie was born, a lot of moms told me I'd never remember what I did when I just had one. But I can tell you, I remember. I got a lot more stuff done. Two children means that my life has become one giant multitask. I almost never do just one chore- literally never. Things take a little longer to get done, and some things continue to get pushed further and further down my never ending to do list. And sometimes, we have to pull clean clothes out of the laundry basket, because they go unfolded for a few days.

Emilie sleeps a lot still, but like clockwork, wakes up right when her big sister goes down for her nap. If they ever are asleep at the same time, I run around frantically like a crazy person, trying to jam a million things into the limited time before one of them wakes up again. After Marin was born, we adjusted to a whole new life. This time it doesn't feel like a whole new life, it just feels like adding more chaos to our lives. Wonderful chaos, but chaos none the less. For me, it was easier to go from one child to two children than it was to go from zero children to one. Does that mean it will be easier to go from two to three? :) Just Kidding, not quite ready to go there.

This time around I am much more confident, but I do still find myself checking to make sure she's still breathing, and consulting the baby book to be sure "that's normal". Even though I've been down this road before, I still have to remind myself to stop and enjoy it; to soak it all in. This time I know that phases come and go, and that time passes too quickly. Ever since we brought Emilie home, Marin seems like she's about ten. I look at Emilie and I can't believe that Marin used to be that small. And then I quietly whisper into both girls ears at night, "Don't grow up too quickly". Sometimes Marin reminds me, "I little, mommy. I not big." And I hope that she and her sister will always want to curl up in my lap.

Very shortly after Emilie was born, someone quipped to Jason, "Oh no, Jas; two girls means two weddings." Our delivery nurse, who has four daughters chimed in, "Trust me, before there are two weddings, there are four prom dresses." I asked my dad later if he could imaging having had two of me, and joked that poor Jason has three of me! Still, I know Jason enjoys being King of the Castle. And we certainly appreciate him. I will admit that a few times I have envisioned our family 14 years from now- and imagine that it will be filled with shared closets and borrowed shoes, and arguments over who used up all the hot water, or who broke the hair dryer. I've told Jason that at some point it's entirely possible that Marin and Emilie will hate me, and that it's his job to talk me up.

In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy my little girls like a fine wine and try to keep some of their sweet moments on reserve just in case I need to remind myself someday of what it was like when we were all under the covers reading stories or how Marin dances through the house singing about how she loves her sister.

Two things I've learned since becoming a mom are that life is a constant adjustment, and that most of the time it moves too quickly. Soak it up and take lots of pictures.