But I do want to give you a "sample" of some of the crazier times around here - maybe just for my own need to vent, but if you're curious, please - read on!
It was about 10:30 and we'd gotten both girls fed and to sleep. Joel headed off to bed and I was not far behind (ha ha ha) I decided to take a few quick minutes to clean up before I had to pump and then go to bed, expecting to wake up again around 1:30 or so. I put away the dirty dishes, cause I really don't like having them laying around. Dishwasher loaded. Then I see that we have no clean bottles, so I take another ten minutes or so to clean those. Oh yeah, and then I remember that I have clothes in the washer that had been soaking (Kennedy had a major blow out, so needed to deep clean those things!) so I was just gonna throw them in the dryer, but when I opened that, I saw the clothes that I had dried yesterday were still in there! Go to find a laundry basket, but they're all full of clean clothes from the past three weeks that still haven't been put away. Ugh. I do NOT have time to fold clothes, so I dump out some of the clean ones in the girls room and put the "new" clean clothes in that basket. Laundry done for now. Then I sit down to pump for about 15 minutes. Finish that and then hurry up to get in bed. Now it is 11:30 p.m. Lay down for about ten minutes and then Natalie wakes up and is ready to eat. Since I hadn't fallen asleep yet, I still felt decent and thought maybe I could handle this feeding without waking up Joel and was actually kind of excited. And Kennedy was still asleep, so I geared up for another feeding. Took Natalie over an hour to eat. Was about finished up with her when I heard Kennedy cry. Once she is awake and hungry, she does not want to wait. Natalie was awake but content so I put her in the boppy (I LOVE THE BOPPY!!!) and started feeding Kennedy. By the way, I nurse and supplement with formula for every feeding. That is what we have found works for us right now. Anyway, after about five minutes, Natalie is getting fussy, but I decide to let her fuss. I really don't want to have to wake up Joel, cause I want to try and give him the "gift" of a few hours sleep in a row. After ten minutes, Natalie is crying and Kennedy is fussing while she eats (she does this sometimes, I don't get it) so I decide that Natalie is probably still hungry, so I go get Joel. He makes a bottle to give her, but she acts like she doesn't want it and keeps crying. An hour goes by. Joel doesn't feel good and I want him to go back to sleep, so I tell him to get back in bed.
* I would like to say here that Joel gets up with me for EVERY feeding, b/c he is wonderful and knows that I need his help. I could NOT do it without him!!! *
I am gonna try and give Kennedy a bottle and breastfeed Natalie some more, because this usually soothes a fussy baby. But then I see Natalie has pretty much fallen asleep, so I lay her down in her bed. Finish feeding Kennedy. She isn't acting sleepy at all, and is looking at me with wide eyes. It's almost 3:00 a.m. and I really want to get in bed (I haven't even gone to sleep yet, remember!) so I lay down with her in bed. We both are almost asleep when Natalie is up again. No!!! I think maybe Kennedy will let me put her down in the bed and I'll try and comfort Natalie. No way, Jose. Two fussy babies. One tired mommy. They've already eaten. It's 3:30 and I do not have the energy to start the feeding process all over again. I mean, aren't they tired??? I try and comfort both, but it's hard. I am losing my cool now and feel really overwhelmed and don't want to have to wake Joel up. So at 3:30, I call Cathy (my mom-in-law) and she comes over to help me and let me get some rest. Great gift - four hours of continual sleep!
Anyway, today has been a really good day and hopefully tonight will not be quite so crazy, but if it is, I know we can get through. I can't call Cathy every night! God gives us all that we need, and I will rely on that.
For now, here are some pictures of the girls for you to enjoy...
Pics of Natalie
Pictures of Kennedy
