Adjusting

Owen is two weeks old today. In a way, it seems like those 2 weeks have gone by in a flash, and yet it seems like it's taken 2 years. It's hard to remember what our family was like before he was a part of it. He fits in so well here with all of us. It's amazing the amount of love we've all developed for this sweet little boy in the last 2 weeks.

And even though we love him incredibly, his birth hasn't come without a lot of adjusting for all of us. We've seen a lot of this:

Nate is feeling very displaced and cries a lot. And, he and Aaron have decided to get my attention in less than ideal ways. On Sunday night, the two of them snuck into our guest bathroom, and Nate let Aaron squeeze a whole bottle of shampoo on top of his head (and down his church clothes, and on his church shoes, and all over the bathroom floor). And then yesterday, the two of them squoze green minty toothpaste all over the upstairs carpet (and then walked around in it, spreading it and grinding it into the carpet). It took me two hours of shampooing the carpet before the green finally came out of the carpet. They also have taken to making piles of toys. They don't play with the toys, they just tear them all off the shelves and make piles with them. After the toothpaste incident, and numerous piles, I'd had it. So, I took all my empty totes that used to have baby girl clothes stored in them, and I boxed up all of their toys and put them in the top of the girls' closet. I decided that if they couldn't take care of their toys, they didn't deserve to have them. We'll see how long it takes before I cave and let them have the toys back. In the meantime, it will make it easier to keep the house clean--I'll just have bored kids.

The other kids seem to be adjusting a bit better. They love to sit and hold Owen anytime I let them (and fight over whose turn it is to hold him). They are loving that they are out of school this week, so they get extra time with him.

And I'm trying to adjust the best I can. My body seems to have adjusted perfectly. I only gained 21 pounds during the pregnancy, and have lost 23 pounds over the last 2 weeks (thanks to an almost 10 pound baby, and then the stomach flu). I feel like I'm fully recovered from childbirth. My mind is taking a bit longer to adjust. I love having a new baby, but find myself wondering if life will ever be "normal" again.