Poor Third Child

There is no ifs, ands, or buts about it, having your third child is so different than your first. While I am so anxious to meet our little one, I have not even come close to finishing my to-do list. However, this time around, I feel no pressure to get it done. 

Her clothes are washed, but I have no idea what her coming home outfit will be. I had Calan and Maisie's picked out months before my due date. 

Holding my little guy after he was born. A first-time mother
absolutely in love and clueless. 

Her car seat is washed and ready, but any and all other newborn accessories (a.k.a. swing, bouncy seat, etc.) are still dismantled and in storage. And the car seat is in the basement and not installed in the car.

Her bedroom looks great, but her dresser is a shmorgishborg of her things just thrown in there. 

I have not bought or prepared any of my after care items. I actually have no idea where my breast pump is. Probably should find that soon. 

Holding my little Miss Maisie. Showered with make-up on.
Second-time mother already ready to go home. 

And even with all my anxiety of having a fast labor and delivering our child on the expressway, no hospital bag has been packed. 

But yet, I feel absolutely ready to have our child. Why? Because this is my third baby.

I packed my hospital bag for Calan at 34 weeks partly because my doctors feared I'd deliver early and had me doing Non-stress tests twice a week. He came at 41 weeks. Yeah not early at all. 

At the time, I had no idea how quickly I delivered, so I followed whatever pack-your-hospital-bag list I had found that included everything from music, computer, lotions, pictures, etc., etc. Many, many things I never needed, but I had it all. 

Now we are at our third child. If I went into labor this very second, I'd grab a pillow, a purse, and a camera, and head out the door. If I had time, I'd throw a quick bag together, but if I didn't have time, I know whatever I needed someone could bring to me, even a coming home outfit. It's not like I live in the U.P., back woods, or rural area. Everything is obviously accessible. 

And all the things that I haven't gotten done are seriously not anything that I need to get done. They are just if it happens it happens. 

Can you tell I am on my third child?

I'm not sure if I mentioned this before, but I am the third child in my family. I feel a type of kindred spirit with this little one. So, I know all the benefits of having older siblings before you. 

By the time you get to the third, you just know everything will just work out and as long as the baby is fed, clothed, and dry, you are good to go. Anything else is just fluff. 

So, little third child, you are the lucky one. You get the relaxed, confident, third-times a charm mother and not the overbearing, pack rat, first-time crazy mother I once was. 

Right of Passage

Like I said Monday, it is a right of passage to wear matching Easter outfits. My sisters and I look absolutely thrilled, and now I am doing this to my children. I am a mother with no shame. I am guessing this picture is circa 1982.

The love, the hate, and the testing

Sibling relationships are definitely different than any other relationship in your life. I have 2 sisters and a brother and we all have different relationships with each other; some healthy, some not so much.

Because of my own issues, I have always worried about what kind of relationships my children will build or destroy between each other. It was one of my main concerns having 2 girls since girls are truly more drama than boys. My sisters and I are in our thirties and drama is probably the best way to describe our relationships.

Sibling relationships was one of my main reasons for wanting children close in age. Calan will never remember a time when he was without Maisie. They are together for better or for worse.

My children have finally gotten to the age where they can love each other one second, hit each other the next, and then love each other again. The roller coaster has started.

Some times it is so amazing to watch them together and watch how Calan as the older, protective brother takes care of his sister. He always makes sure that she has what she needs (as long as it isn't something he wants.) He definitely sees her as a playmate.

Maisie adores Calan. She usually wakes up before he does from nap time and gets pretty upset when we can't go get him. She'll keep going to his bedroom door till it is time to wake him up too. She follows him every where.

However, they have also gotten to the age where fighting has started. Maisie is not the "give up whatever Calan wants" type of girl anymore. If she is playing with something and Calan tries to take it, she clearly yells no. If he gets it, she tries to grab it back. If that doesn't work, she cries and gets me. Calan on the same note won't give up a toy for Maisie and if she grabs it from him, he bops her on the head.

Oh, the fun we are having right now.

Two of our family rules are 1) Speak nicely to each other and 2) Never hurt one another. So the fighting, usually ends in time outs and apologies. Pretty sure as their mother, the time outs and apologies are basically useless since they fight 2 seconds later, but it is the best thing I have right now. After each time out, they have to apologize to the other and give a nice touch whether that is a hug or a kiss. Both of them have no problem apologizing and they both love hugging each other, so no big deal there either. I love how Calan always runs to Maisie saying "Sorry Maisie Daisy."

It is hard to stay on top of their fighting since they really are over it 2 seconds later. They really never seriously hurt each other, but if I am not addressing it now, I feel like it will only get worse as they get older. My thought is that their sibling is their first friend and should be treated better than other friendships. So, if they aren't speaking nicely or acting nicely toward each other, they need to be corrected by me.

I know that I will never be able to stop sibling rivalry, but I also want them to know how important it is to treat each other with respect and kindness. If I can instill that in them, I hope that they will build a healthy relationship well into the future.

They decided to lay down in the kitchen and pretend to sleep. Calan made the "beds"
with their blankets.

Night time quiet time. Calan sharing his blue blanket with Maisie since hers was in
their room. 

The Big Christmas Reveal

It was Christmas Eve night and the big secret was about to be revealed. I was sitting on the edge of my seat feeling very assured that I was right. Pretty confident that what I thought was going to be was going to be. The vision I had in my head was going to be true. I have never felt more confident than I did at that moment. 

And then it was read,"I'M A GIRL!" And my face says it all ....

I was WRONG. I was completely in shock!

Let me explain, we had our 20-week ultrasound on December 10, but decided to hold off finding out if our baby was a boy or girl in the doctor's office. We decided to slip the big reveal into our family gift exchange. Only a few of the 24 people in the exchange knew that the reveal was all wrapped up and waiting to be opened. 

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It took about 10 rounds before my husband's aunt choose THE package. I saw it get picked up and my heart jumped a little. For one quick second I thought to myself, what if she says it's a girl, but then I thought, nope, I know that I am having a boy. Our video camera of course decided not to work at that exact moment, so I was using my phone. I was holding it pretty steady until right before she read aloud. 

And then she said it. We are having a GIRL. Definitely a girl. Not a boy. Calan and Maisie are going to have a little sister. We are having a GIRL. My mind started racing and is still racing.  

I am still adjusting to the shock. I was so positive on what I was having during each of my pregnancies. I was right with Maisie and Calan. I was wrong this time. My thoughts and visions of what our family was going to be like are altered. I am very happy; I am just adjusting. I can not believe that we are going to have 2 girls in our house. I can't believe that Calan is going to be an older brother to 2 sisters. I just can't believe it. 

So our Christmas has been wonderful. I am reminded once again that life plans mean nothing when you are actually living your life. We loved sharing this special moment with family and now need to hunker down and figure out a beautiful girl name. We had a boy name ready to go. 

17 weeks till our newest angel arrives. 

Here is the video of the moment, but I kind of dropped the camera in the excitement, so it is all basically sound. You can hear how shocked we all were.

Roommates?

When we were planning for Maisie's wonderful arrival, we (I) decided that it would be best for them to share a room. This kept one room open for a spare bedroom and office and it kept all the baby stuff in one room. In my mind, it was a great idea. In my mind, I figured by at latest 6 months they would be sharing a room. 

Well, great plans are always foiled by reality. Maisie's crib has basically stayed untouched the past 7 months. She sleeps in our room in a pack-and-play. For the most part it has worked. I have actually been pretty attached to my little bug and have been a little resistant to letting her sleep in the nursery. 

But, I am beginning to think that it might just have to be like a ripping off a Band-Aid; I just have to do it. I have to accept that there will be a little bit of a transition and they won't sleep perfectly, but to be honest they don't sleep perfectly now, so what would be the worst that could happen?

Today, they are napping in the same room. This is the second time I have tried it. The first time, Calan woke halfway through and Maisie started to cry, so I moved her to her pack-and-play and settled Calan back down, so he would sleep longer, which he did. She, however, was up, but luckily took an evening nap to make up for her short afternoon nap. 

Today, they both went down pretty easily and have been asleep for about 20 minutes. Their afternoon nap is actually pretty close to the same amount of time. They go down at 12:30 and usually sleep till about 3. I realized if they were sleeping the exact same time, they should be sleeping in the same room together during their nap, so I could do things like actually make my bed and clean up my room during nap time. 

I figure if they both can fall asleep with each other in the room, then it is probably time that they be actually sharing a bedroom. In my mind, I feel like it is time, but in my heart, I am not so ready. I don't know what my big hang up is about it. I am pretty sure that they will do fine together. I just need to try. 

I guess it is time for Calan and Maisie to finally be roommates. 

Double Trouble

This afternoon, I placed Maisie done for a second in a chair in their nursery while I got Calan out of his crib. When he saw her in the chair, he needed to be right next to her. Too say they were pretty cute sitting in the chair together is an understatement, but it reminded me these two are going to be trouble cohorts in no time.

Definitely love these two.