My Baby is Two Months Old, and Life with Four Kids

Hi friends. I wanted to pop in with a little life update. My baby is just over 2 months old! That means I have spent 2 whole months as a mama of 4, over Christmas and while homeschooling, and lived to tell the tale! I’ve had every intention of writing, but as you can imagine- life doesn’t allow a lot of time for that right now. Every time I sit down, I find myself interrupted… But here I am today! How are you?

I am doing pretty good. I thought I would share a few photos of my sweet boy. I haven’t really done that much! I do share on my instagram and in my instagram stories quite often, because that is a bit easier to do so you can find me there too.

Week One

I snapped these photos of Theodore when he was just 5 days old, right before our midwife came for our last home visit. I love our midwife, and we had such an amazing care experience. I can’t wait to write out Theodore’s birth story, but it will have to wait for another day.

five days old, 7lbs 3 oz

life with a newborn:

• I don’t remember ever feeling so tired with any of my kids as I did this time around.
• I am smitten with this baby, and he can do no wrong
• I ignored the world
• we were so blessed by friends and family and didn’t make meals for nearly a month! wow
• we did school when he was six days old, and it went really well
• I stare at my baby all day long
• he is a pooping machine
• breastfeeding is going great, and he is gaining, gaining, gaining! 

Month One

Time flew by… just absolutely flew! Matt and I were so tired. Are you sensing a theme? The boys did absolutely fine adjusting, but our 3.5 year old became pretty whiny, weepy and a major challenge for me. She loooooves her baby brother, but she started to become much like a baby herself. She wouldn’t get on the potty, wanted to be fed, had to be at my side constantly, and her listening went out the window… I didn’t experience that with my boys. We let her watch more tv than I would like to admit in an attempt for me to rest and recover. I tried to get ready for Christmas, but decided to accept that I can only do so much! There were some rough days, but they were far outweighed by joy and feeling so amazingly blessed to have a new baby in our house.

one month old 8 lbs

life with a one month old:

• he is such a chill, sweet baby
• breastfeeding is great
• my body is slowly recovering, and I learned I have a separated pelvis
• he started to give tiny smiles and it is the best!!
• he shocked us when he weighed 8lbs at his 4 week check… which made sense since he loves the milky!
• he loves being on mama, sleeping on mama, and doesn’t really like to be put down
• he is an ok sleeper
• he takes a soother and he is our first to do so! It has been a godsend
• he does not like being in the car seat, and cries. we make lots of stops
• he does not like bath time much
• the kids ate frozen pizzas for lunch like it was their job
• I made meat balls one night
• we loved visiting with friends and family as they celebrated our new little arrival!
• I taught 2 wreath workshops. It was fun to see people 🙂
  

  Month Two

This past month we have started to find our groove, and more than anything I feel like my head is above water. Having a newborn over Christmas is both great, limiting, and tiring. I couldn’t do everything I usually do for my kids and family, we had to limit our outings, and we didn’t sleep much. But, there was a magic for me- and the story of Jesus, and the reality of the miracle of his birth set in like never before. Matt and I were extra emotional about everything.

two months old 11 lbs 14 oz

Raising four kids has it’s ups and downs. There were a few hard days, and definitely a lot of doubts as to whether I could “do this.” Without the encouragement of my husby, this month could have looked a lot different. But we laughed instead of cried, and when there were tears he held me close, offered help, or asked others for help. I am not so good at that. I definitely felt like I needed to take things slow. I didn’t drive on my own with the kids until Theodore was nearly 7 weeks- except for once at 3 weeks, but that was because it was only 10 minutes away. Because we live out of the city, a “drive” is at least 25 minutes one way… which is tricky when your baby doesn’t like his seat! But my oldest is now very good at soother duty.

life with a two month old:

• I love this baby. he smiles and laughs, and makes me feel like the most special person in the world
• he snuggles so much
• he loves his dadda
• he is a pooping machine
• he also barfs all the time, and a lot- figuring this out and trying to not over feed him!
• he makes his brothers seem so big and grown up in comparison, which is some days hard for my mama heart
• dressing my post partum body is.the.worst. finding things that I can breastfeed in, that sit nicely and don’t accentuate my weird, squishy tummy is the worst. not to mention we are out of the house a lot with the holidays, and I don’t want to buy things. reminding myself this too shall pass.
• I bought myself 2 new, well fitting nursing bras and tanks. Finally- after having 4 babies. Thanks self.
• his sleep found a rhythm, and we felt a bit spoiled by some long stretches. Grace of God for sure!! diluted lavender seemed to be linked to helping him sleep.
• I had a gall bladder attack when he was 7 weeks, which was discouraging to say the least. I am since on a very limited diet, trying to gain healing, and balance hormones
• parents aka grand parents are the best, and I don’t think we would have survived without them.
• I also had a clogged milk duct twice, which was painful.Thankfully it did not become mastitis. I used sliced potatoes and rested… look it up! My midwife suggested it, and for some reason it works
• my health issues reminded me that I need to take it slow, and be ok with that.
• we took a full 2 weeks off from homeschooling over Christmas and it was needed and well deserved. my boys did amazing working hard the first half of the year!
• our big boys have started helping more with chores, meals and baking. it has been a blessing
• Christmas was relaxing, and filled with family time
• we loved having all of my family come to us this year for a visit, and are so thankful they braved the trip in -30
• Matt had a hard time leaving our little baby and heading back to his studio, but he is dealing with it.
• I want to give every couple with 4+ kids a gold medal, a holiday getaway and 77 kisses. Especially if their kids have made it to adulthood. (I’m looking at you Mom, Marg and Nick and Chris and Shana… maybe I’ll be able to actually do it one day!)
  

I feel like there are a million more things I could say, but I will never hit publish on this post! Long story short, I love being a mama of four. It’s wonderful. It’s challenging. It’s refining.

Life is nuts.

While it’s not the easy way out, I have put a “no tv” policy in place in our house the last week and a half, and Fin ( our 3.5 year old) is listening and behaving sooooo much better. Sure, I feel like I run a marathon every day, but there is more peace in our house. Praise God. We only turn the tv on for a short time in moments when I really need quiet for something. It was definitely being overused.

I’m walking on air because my baby slept through the night last night- just over 9 hrs. I’m telling you… this boy is just the sweetest babe!

Love you all, thank you so much for being a part of this journey.

-Miss Ash