Life with 3 Babies

After reading Abby's post I figured why not do this. Since only Nathanael and I are up right now I figured I could do this real quick and then spend some quality time with him.

Things That Have Been Easier That I Imagined

-I would have never imagined that Naomi would have been welcomed into the family as much as she would. I figured the boys would look at her and then go on about what they are doing but it is the complete opposite. Naomi is very much a social butterfly and has to be in the mix but that is ok because the boys love to be around her and love to make her laugh and they actually drop what they are doing if they hear her cry to try to run and comfort her. It just makes me cry to see the simple love.

-Nursing. I thought it would be more of a challenge because now that Isaiah is older and getting curious about body parts I figured I would have to constantly go to another room to nurse but wondered how in the world am I going to keep an eye on the boys. I tried it a few times by staying in the same room because let's get real...when a baby is hungry they are hungry. Anyways he realized that I was providing nourishment to her so now when she cries he says, "Mommy, Naomi want to eat." I am not so self conscience around him when it comes to that.

- Nursing in public. I always wondered how does Michelle Duggar nurse while walking around and tending to all her kids? I went out and bought a my brest friend pillow and decided to try to see if it was possible and that was the best idea ever. Now we are able to continue to do things as a family without having to put everyone on hold just so she can eat. We stop for a little while to get me situated and then we are off and still having family fun and I can keep up while walking and nursing. I am grateful for this because I would have missed tons of laughs and memories.

- Our routines have definitely changed but the routine has been easily adapted too. We wake up early and play (all 4 of us because Alex is working) then we all get dressed for the day and head downstairs for breakfast. I get the boys situated first and then I serve myself a bowl of cereal and then sit on the couch to have Naomi nurse while we all eat. After breakfast we clean up the living room area and then start school. Naomi goes to her toy and works on her grabbing skills and Nathanael goes to the play room while I work with Isaiah. When lunch time comes around we fill Alex in on everything that has happened for the day and then once he leaves it is nap time for everyone. Isaiah usually only naps for a little while if he naps at all but I get the housework that I need done during this time. Then when Alex gets home we enjoy the rest of the evening with him. Our day changes a little every day for instance if we have an appointment of some kind school may get pushed back to nap time since he naps shorter periods. It has been a different experience but we all enjoy the flexibility of our schedule because it just makes our life easier.

- Everyone says that adding a new child is harder on the finances because it costs money to have a child but as of right now it really isn't that much of a difference. Maybe it is because we choose to live a frugal life already that it really isn't that much of a difference. We have saved so much money from the nursing and we did cloth diapers on Naomi for the first month but stopped because of our trips that were coming up and now I am about to go back to the cloth diapering system that it has helped our finances. The Lord has provided more than enough and we have been blessed beyond measure.

Things That Have Been Harder Than I Imagined

- Cloth Diapers. For some reason I thought we will do this because we will save money from having to buy diapers but then I was frustrated the first week or so because she was going through clothes like crazy. The only reason I was so frustrated was because my house was in complete disarray and I couldn't get the house clean yet keep up with diapers. We went back to disposables until I got the house where I wanted and then it was easier to manage both. Now that we are home from our vacation it has been a little difficult for me to go back to cloth diapers because of the ease of just throwing away a diaper but we aren't on the road now so I need to go back to the cloth diapers.

- Although nursing Naomi has been so much easier it does get a little harder when we are in public because she does not like to be covered at all. We have to work a little harder to make sure I stay covered at all times. Although it is perfectly legal for me to feed my baby in public I choose to stay covered because of my modesty. Feeding her in Texas was the worst because it was so HOT!!!

- The first month was hard adding a new baby to the mix because she cried and kept me up at night and I was so tired but I reminded myself that it was temporary.

Overall adding a third baby to the mix has been a lot easier than I expected and the most difficult time was during the first month but we had a lot of unforeseen circumstances come up during her first month of life that could not be helped. I am very content with how things are running in our lives and am very grateful that the Lord has blessed me with three wonderful children I call Isaiah, Nathanael, and Naomi. My dad says we should name our house the (INN) for the first initials of all my children.

Have a good day.

Aleida