Tuesday, October 26, 2010

We Are Still Alive!


Well, it is hard to believe, but it has been 8 weeks since the birth of baby Rose. Tim and I have been trying to adjust to having two girls. The first 3-4 weeks were the hardest! Madison went through a pretty wild stage. I thought we had ruined her forever. She was (mostly) kind to Rose, but just walked around with an attitude about everything. But fortunately we all survived the first month and Maddy has come to realize that Rose is here to stay, so that seems to have helped her attitude. She is much happier and even a helper of late! So we are very thankful for that!

* I am going to randomly place pictures throughout this post-mainly to catch up for lost time ;)



I have pretty much gotten the hang of getting in and out of the house with two on my own. Although I am sure I look ridiculous to my neighbors as I am walking down the stairs to our apartment holding Rose in the car carrier, holding a diaper bag, and practically dragging Madison down the stairs. I'm always so sweaty by the time I get to the car that I blast the air conditioner as soon as we get in. Sunday morning are the hardest as Tim is the campus pastor at our church on Sunday mornings and goes in fairly early.  So it's up to me to get the girls and myself there with enough time to get them into nursery and sit down before the first song (which rarely happens) haah!  I am trying to do better at getting all clothes out the night before, get the diaper bag packed, and get myself ready before the girls wake up. I will get it someday, right?! I am sure many of you are in the same situation, so if you have any tips, feel free to share ;)


Overall though, I am enjoying this stage in my life and in the girls' lives.  Madison is so much fun and is talking up a storm. She is actually able to carry on a little conversation. It's so fun to know what she is thinking!

Rose is such a sweet baby. She is on a fairly good schedule during the day and is sleeping from about 10p -4a. Then I can nurse her for 20 min. and put her right back to sleep- which is wonderful!

**I plan to write more about the girls soon for their 22 month and 2 month birthdays ;) 
For now I just wanted to throw out a quick(cough-cough) update.

I have to say, that one of the biggest challenges is finding some time just for Tim and I. This is a picture of a date night we had recently. 
I am so thankful to have a husband that loves the girls and I so much. The Lord is so good!
 Tim and I are most exciting about our new morning routine!  We used to both wake up at the first cry of Madison around 7:30 and curse the day with our first breath (you know what I am talking about!) The problem was that we were going to bed so late  just to get some quiet time by ourselves. Well now we are going to bed earlier and waking up at 6am together. Tim goes straight down to our little workout room that our condo has  and works out for about a 1/2 hour. While he does that I get my workout clothes on, pump, and read my Bible (holy cow! This has been such a blessing because I was really struggling to find a good time to read my Bible now with 2!). Then when Tim comes up, I go down and work out for a 1/2 hour (I will get this baby weight off yet! I still have some left over from Madison-ugh!) When I come back up, I jump in the shower while Tim starts making breakfast. By that time Madison usually wakes up and we all eat together  (all by 7:30!!!!) My day has felt so much better. I have had more energy and just felt better.

It has been wonderful to have some time by myself before the kiddos wake up and then to have a some time with Tim before he leaves for the day. I sure hope this routine lasts, because I like it ;)

6 comments:

Abby said...

Do you guys have 2 cars or just one? I always leave the diaper bag in the car. I replenish it after a few trips out and update the extra outfits as needed. That way, there is one less thing to have to haul out every time I go somewhere with the boys. Everything is in one bag. And I always put clothes out the night before - for all of us. It makes it so much easier in the morning, because inevitably, I am always running late!!!

Becky Gravley said...

love the morning routine! we have the same one! and IT WORKS!!!! so much easier this way and gets the day started out right! =) love you, girl! sounds like you're doing a great job with two!

Melody said...

Love the new pics - both girls are so precious! Don't you just love having two girls??? You and Tim are doing such a great job. And Sundays were always the hardest for me too. I just had to get myself out of bed even earlier just to be on time. It definitely keeps getting easier, but I can't get over the picture of you going up and down your stairs with the two! I think forcing myself to take both girls with me has helped Juliana learn how to behave and even be a helper.

juliechall said...

Love the update! What sweet girlies you have. It seems like Rose has an awesome schedule already too - that is fantastic! I can only imagine the struggle of Sunday morning on my own with two. Rob and I have a hard enough time getting out the door with one kid and both of us working on it :) I also love hearing about your morning routine. We are still definitely in the "wait 'til we hear the first cry around 7:30" stage...however, we can still get some things done during morning nap time. I fear those days are soon coming to an end. Maybe we'll have to learn from you guys, and start going to bed earlier and getting up earlier!

JordanandSue said...

You are a pro, Julie! They are just beautiful, and I love that cheesy grin in Madison's pic- Rose has such pretty eyes!! I love hearing that you guys are doing so well- I've loved the times we've had to talk about stuff- you're such a blessing to me! ..and as much as I hate it, I've learned that if I really want to get something done, it does involve getting up EARLY :( heehee

Danielle said...

Wow Julie, you're amazing. I love your morning routine. Sounds so productive and efficient! :) It'll be so interesting to figure all of that out for us soon.