Life with a One Week Old!

It is so hard to believe, but Liam is officially one week old. I can't believe how quickly this past week has gone by for me. Can we say, "whirlwind"? Things are TOTALLY different this time around. I don't know if it is more that this is the second time or if Liam is just that different from Nora. I think, to be honest, that having two means you just have to let things go. You are forced to be distracted by what's going on so you don't have the opportunity to sweat every.little.thing. like I know I did with Nora. God has been really good and kind to me this past week, allowing me to realize many things about myself and about our current season. I am enjoying things so much more and have had lots of joy, in spite of the lack of sleep and the abundance of change. What an answer to my prayers!

Here are some fun things I have learned/am learning about being a momma of a boy/a momma of two:

1. Baby boys sure can POOP! I cannot TELL you how many poopie diapers we have changed in the past week. Seriously, there are more times than I can count where the second (literally) that I get that boy changed, he poops AGAIN! We are seriously talking about buying stock in Pampers.

2. While on the subject, baby boys PEE all over everything! All over themselves, their mommas, their momma's hair, their momma's bed about five minutes after she put clean sheets from the previous pee escapade. I would LOVE some tips on how to keep Liam dry, so if you have any words of wisdom, please share!

3. Big sisters LOVE to help their mommas take care of the baby. Nora likes to get on the bed where I change Liam and "help" me by "handing" me wipes. This usually looks like Nora taking about half of the wipes out of the box one at a time, wiping herself off with them, then making a pile on the bed. Have I mentioned we are looking into stocks for wipes, too?

4. Babies nurse better when their mommas chill out! I find that I look forward to the 30 minutes or so when I can just sit and nurse Liam without having to do other things. It's sort of the most relaxing moments of my day so far. Nora is being really good about it all and seems to be taking things so much better than I anticipated.

5. Lingo for baby boys is SO much different than for baby girls. Gone are the terms like "pretty," "sweet," "beautiful," "dainty," etc. We are now using words like "handsome," "little man," "b-wah" (boy in an apparently masculine/redneck way), etc. I'm loving it!

6. God doesn't give you more than you can handle, and he is always faithful to give you the grace you need. However, sometimes you have to ASK for it. I have found myself trying to manage all of these adjustments in my own strength on numerous occasions in the past week. On little sleep, I am especially prone to being agitated and fearful and anxious. Jonathan has been so great at encouraging me and telling me that I am tired, I need to rest, and I need to realize that I cannot do everything in my own strength. He also keeps reminding me that nothing....not Nora, not Liam, not me....are going to be perfect or just the way I want them to be all the time. Most importantly, he reminds me that I need to ask for grace and ask for rest and ask for help from the Lord. Our Father will be faithful to provide it. And he has been faithful in providing it.

I am trying to write these things down so that I can look back at this season and remember all of the excitement and all that I am learning during these early weeks. I'm not doing justice to how much of an adventure I feel like I'm living these days, but atleast I am able to record these few things. I can't wait to look back months down the road and be blown away with how quickly this season has gone by. I want to live it up while I can!