Happy Saturday, Ya'll

  I'm slacking with my blog posts lately... I wonder why!? Here's some updates for all those who are dying to know whats been going on.
  Yesterday, my beautiful younger cousin, JoEllen, got married. One of the prettiest weddings I've been to and I got to see a lot of my family which is always a plus. My mother stayed with us last night and helped out this morning with the kids.
   Mornings are always harder on us. Both kids get hungry at the same time, usually I feed Hardy 1st, since AnnElise isn't as demanding about it. I've learned that at least 1 kid will be crying or demanding attention throughout the day, while I've learned that, I've learned at the same time that crying babies do survive:) Sometimes they just have to cry, but its not fun hearing it.
   Today marks 22 months for AnnElise, and 1 month for Hardy. It has flown by, people. I'm not complaining one bit though. I've not had the easiest time these last 4 weeks. It seems like everyday brings another new health problem our way, but nothing major and always something God will take care of. I am at least sleeping. Its one of my top priorities. Hardy wakes me up once or twice still and he's getting better about eating faster. I look forward to the nights when I can count on him sleeping longer and being a little less demanding.
   Hardy has his 1 month check up Wednesday so I'm not sure how much he's gained, but I can bet that its at least 2 or 3 lbs (seems like a little bit, but he feels so much heavier and has filled out a lot). He's almost outgrown all of his newborn clothes that used to swallow him. It lets me know that I'm doing something right when he's growing and gaining.
   Its really hard having two little ones, but I love it. I know that all my challenges now will seem so easy when the new challenges come. Makes me wonder what I did with the extra time before he came along.

Two Hands Full

    Our house is a bit noisier now, but right now its very quiet. I'm getting the hang of caring for two demanding kiddos, but its going to take some practice taking care of them along with the other things around the house. Today, I decided I could be brave and took both of them out by myself for the 1st time. We went to Target to gather some baby things. We don't have much in the way of clothes for boys so I'm always on the hunt for some more along with more items to make breast feeding a little easier. Who knew that something thats supposed to be so natural, could feel so unnatural at times. Since I had to pump for AE, this is a new experience for me. I'm not sure that we've got the correct latch going on. I was sure of it at 1st, but there's a few little difficulties that I'm facing. Its only been 2.5 weeks so its still very new. Hopefully these things will work themselves out VERY soon.
   While its only been 2.5 weeks, I feel really well so far. I'm only waking up once every 4 hours at night to feed so I'm getting my much needed sleep so early on. Praise God for that. I thought AE was easy, but Hardy is easier so far (mostly b/c I'm not having to pump, feed, clean supplies every hour of the day like I had with AE). I just feed, then move on:) So much better. He does cluster feed from 7-10pm... by cluster feed, I mean, he's on me for 3 hours straight, but whatever helps him sleep, right? One thing I learned from the 1st kiddo, was just to give my worries to God and keep praying about them. Everything else is just temporary and will be much better after 3 months when they really start sleeping longer, and routine is easier.
    AnnElise is finding it more normal for me to be dividing my attention between the two of them. Now she's ok that Hardy is occupying my lap and she'll sit beside me so that I can still read her a book. There's still the difficult jealous times. When we were at Target this morning, Hardy began to cry, so I picked him up and kept on strolling along, then AE decided that she needed to be picked up too. I was trying to decide if I could carry them both and push the cart, then realized that I couldn't. AE is usually persistent, but she just ended up sitting back down like a big girl after some whining. I was proud of her. There are many other times when the end result is her throwing everything within reach then crying for half an hour until she's forgotten or distracted.
   I don't want to wish this precious newborn stage away so fast, but I really look forward to the two of them laughing, playing, fighting, and learning together. I love that our house is already filled with so much love and laughter and sometimes crying, but I can't wait to hear 1 more laugh added to it.